The Devil's Paradise
by WhiteShadow21
Summary: Adrianne Byrne was an epidemiologist at the CDC. After a severe outbreak of an unknown disease, she is now in hiding. She and her two sons have to hide out at her uncle's farm; away from the military, away from all life. The military threat is no longer, but instead the threat is the unknown disease that turns its host into undead monsters that feed on the living. Eventual Rick/OC
1. Prologue and Winding Down

**Hey guys! This is my second Walking Dead story, and I worked hard on it, so I hope you enjoy!**

**HUGE Shout out to my Beta Reader, Carrot Top. She is an amazing writer, and she helped me to make this so much better. Check out her stories, they're amazing!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my original characters. **

* * *

**Prologue**

Life was good before the world went to shit. Adrianne Byrne had the perfect family and the perfect life with a loving husband, Adam Byrne, and two sons. She could never imagine a better family picture; it was everything she could ever ask for.

As a successful epidemiologist, she worked hard at the CDC to find cures and vaccines for Alzheimer's disease and lung cancer. On the side, she performed surgeries, and she was even rewarded a well–deserved Nobel Peace Prize for her fight against malaria in Africa. Her determination and hard work won her success, but she never gloated about it. She was humble, without a single cell of pride in her blood.

Adrianne's sons, William, who was thirteen, and Nicholas, who was ten, were the best things to ever happen to her. They loved soccer, always playing in the backyard and practicing their moves on the field. As a soccer–loving family, they went through soccer balls like any ordinary person went through shoes. Almost everyday after dinner they would rush out to their soccer field in the backyard and play an intense game of two–on–two. Sometimes, if they were lucky, friends would be over, which led to an even bigger, more sophisticated game.

All of that was gone now—there was no time to play soccer anymore, but if there was everyone would be on alert for military or the infected, which made the game less competitive, and in Adrianne's opinion, less appealing.

The military swept through and dropped bombs on the city, flushing out the buildings with flamethrowers and machine guns, showing no mercy on any medical personnel that crossed their path for fearing they were infected. They protected the CDC at all costs, surrounding the sacred building and keeping it armed so no one could get in. It horrified Adrianne when she would look out the enormous glass walls and witness such a bloody massacre.

Her expertise, combined with her team of pathologists and medical researchers, won her a huge role in searching for the cure. She was at the podium often, addressing the nervous, terrified citizens, trying her best to keep an open and optimistic mind. It was her job to spread and produce optimism, even if that didn't exist in her head.

Eventually, half of the population was wiped out and most of Adrianne's fellow epidemiologists had swallowed a bullet without letting anyone convince them to keep trying. After the lead pathologist had fallen ill with the unknown disease, her husband, Dr. Edwin Jenner, had told Adrianne to go home and save her family. She knew that the military would go straight to her home and kill them on sight, since she was in contact with the virus itself—all of her friends and coworkers had been killed before they could get within feet of their house; they didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to their families.

The first name that popped into Adrianne's mind when trying to think of a safe place to go to was her Uncle Hershel, whom she had an extremely close relationship with. He was like a father to her more than her real father was; Adrianne's father was always coming home drunk and angry, just like his father before him. Hershel had a huge, secluded farm, far away from any people, making it the safest place to be. Adrianne and her family were welcomed with open arms there, and with a few of the upstairs bedrooms cleaned out, they were living a safe and quiet life.

Her step-aunt Annette had gotten infected after only a few weeks of Adrianne living there. No matter how much Adrianne tried to convince her uncle, he would not believe that there was no cure and he stuck her undead body into the barn that was once used for horses. Every time Hershel saw one of the people he called 'sick', he would not allow any of them to put it out of it's misery—instead, he let the undead call their barn home.

Hershel's family friends, Patricia and her husband, Otis, moved in with them after Hershel invited them to stay, thinking the more medically trained people on the property, the better. Patricia and Otis became close to their family, so close that they were considered one of them—Otis was a joyous man to be around, always playing his guitar and sharing laughs to lighten the mood that was always darkened when they thought about what was outside of this farm; Patricia was delicate, her frame looking even smaller when she stood beside Otis. She was caring and deeply respectful to Hershel, Adrianne and Adrianne's family.

Soon, however, the house became so crowded that they basically tripping over each. Supplies became an immediate necessity, with groups going out almost day just for basic things like medical supplies, food, gasoline, and ammo for the only gun that was allowed in Hershel's home, which belonged to Otis.

Adrianne's cousin Maggie was always on a run, whether it was with her sister Beth, Otis, Patricia, or Adrianne herself; Adam didn't go often, as he was in charge of chopping wood, caring for the horses, and hunting with Otis.

When they became short handed, Adam offered to go on a supply run with Maggie and Adrianne to the food market that was only a few miles away—little did any of them know, there would be a group of hungry, bloodthirsty meatbags waiting for them inside the store. The two girls narrowly escaped, but when Adrianne turned around to grab Adam's arm, he wasn't there. The undead were tearing his flesh from his bones, while Adam was screaming for the girls to run and never look back. All Adrianne could do was run away, but only because of Maggie yanking on her arm to make her run faster and snap out of it.

Adrianne didn't speak for days after her husband died, not even to her kids. The bloodcurdling cries as Adam was being tore apart right before her eyes would not erase from her memory. They were there forever, even though she tried everything to run away from her past. Every time she saw her sons, all she could see was Adam's face— those two boys were the only things that were keeping her alive now though, no matter how much it killed her to look into their eyes.

**Chapter One: Winding Down**

"Adrianne, come help with dinner," Maggie called from the kitchen. The sudden noise made Adrianne jump, snapping her out of her daydream. Her thumb was stuck in the book she was in the middle of reading, which was now sitting on her chest.

She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and stretched her neck, slipping the little piece of blue construction paper snuggly into the book, then set it on the nightstand. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she stretched out every cramp that tightened the muscles in her shoulders and thighs, several pops and cracks loosening her joints even more. Wearily, she rubbed her face with one hand as she shuffled down the stairs, wishing she could sleep for once instead of day dreaming about the good times.

"Sorry. I, uh, was tired," She explained in a small voice as she reached the spacey kitchen. Maggie was at the kitchen island, slicing and dicing the fresh vegetables from the garden, while already cooking something that made Adrianne's empty stomach rumble with hunger.

"No, it's fine, you got down here just in time. Here," she said, handing Adrianne a basket of potatoes. "Slice those."

Adrianne's nose crinkled as she made an annoyed noise, but without any further complaints, she dragged the basket to the sink to begin washing off the dry dirt that clung to the potatoes. "Where's Otis?" She asked, noticing that there was no laughing and guitar playing going on.

"He's out huntin'. Said he saw a buck wanderin' around and though venison sounded good for dinner tomorrow," Maggie explained, holding the cutting board above a pot to slide in the vegetables with a sweep of the knife. She then tucked a piece of her short, brown hair behind her ear as she set the board back on the island, gathering a handful of basil from a plastic bag in front of her.

"Mm, that sounds delicious. Hadn't had venison in a long time," Adrianne groaned, her mouth watering from just imagining the meat in the pan, sizzling and releasing its aroma into the atmosphere.

"Well, don't be countin' on it. He probably won't even find it tonight," Maggie chuckled, throwing Adrianne a bright, white smile as she chopped the herbs.

"Maggie, stop bein' such a pessimist. Otis is the best tracker in Georgia. He'll get 'em," Adrianne snorted, skinning the potatoes into the sink, carful not to slice her thumb. After cutting the potatoes into even squares, she filled a pan with water, set it on the black coils on the stove, and with no patience, she dumped the pale vegetables into the salty water.

"Mom?" Will called from the porch. She glanced out the living room window, searching for the boy, and patted Maggie's back as she left the kitchen to meet Will outside. She felt Maggie's curious gaze on her as she made her exit out of the house, knowing that her cousin was happy that she was beginning to talk and come out of the darkness.

"What's up?" Adrianne asked, her eyebrows stitching together as she sat down on the steps next to Will.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked, staring down at the white wooden planks below them, his hands clasped together in his lap.

"Yeah, sure," She said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and gazing at his face, studying it for clues on how he was feeling.

He looked up at her, his light brown hair falling just above his big, green eyes. "How long until we are all. . .dead?" He peeped, his voice soft, struggling to find the right words.

Adrianne dropped her gaze in guilt. "I dunno," She whispered, swallowing hard, not wanting to lie, nor tell him that there was a huge chance that they wouldn't get out of this—a tear escaped Will's eye, falling onto his entangled fingers. She pulled him closer and kissed the top of his head. "It's alright. We'll be fine. We got this far, right? Don't you worry," She crooned, rubbing his upper-arm while also attempting to keep her own hopes up.

"Yeah. But Hershel thinks those things are people. He won't let us kill 'em if they come here," He argued, the fear growing in his voice.

"Sh–h, don't over think it," She told him, changing the subject, "I have to go make dinner, kiddo." She pushed herself up, patting his shoulder and watching as the tears disappeared from his eyes. "I'm sure there is someone else out there," she said as she walked back into the house to help Maggie in the kitchen. Her shoulders slumped at the thought of her son doubting his survival, hers, and the entire world's.

After a long, stressful hunt, Otis had returned empty handed. The dark had become a major obstacle, making it too dangerous and much too difficult to track a deer, even with his level of skill. It was a bummer; they were all hoping to give their hankering for fresh venison a rest, but they would have to put up with it for a few days longer—Otis tried to convince them that he was hot on its trail, but because he had to stop, he had to re-track it again tomorrow.

The dinner table was unusually quiet that night, but only because they were all equally exhausted after the long days work; Adrianne, on the other hand, was just worn out because she hasn't slept very much in the last few weeks.

"Jimmy, why don't you eat somethin'?" Adrianne asked Beth's boyfriend. She never approved of him, believing he was reckless, dumb and a liar. He always lied to get what he wanted, making him manipulative in his own way, but Adrianne never said anything since Beth loved him. For what reason, she sure as hell didn't know. But being nice to him was the only way to keep the peace, and if Adrianne wanted to live here, she had to respect everyone else there.

"I'm not really hungry," he answered passively, avoiding every eye that was turned in his direction by staring down at his untouched plate. He just there in between Beth and Maggie, leaning back in the chair with his hands on his lap.

"Whatcha hidin', boy?" Hershel demanded, staring him down, knowing that he was biting his tongue to keep quiet.

"Nothin', I'm just really tired. If you'd excuse me," he rushed as he bolted up from his seat and sped off up the stairs.

Adrianne chewed her beans slowly, her eyes flickering up and following Jimmy. Beth jumped up from the table, clearly to follow him and bring him back."Where you goin'?" Maggie asked, grabbing her arm. Beth guiltily sat back down and glanced between everyone, reading their faces and realizing that they were expecting an explanation from her.

"Jimmy told me that one of the sick people attacked him while he was out in the woods choppin' down a tree earlier," she said in a quiet voice. "He said that he was pinned so he had to kill him."

Hershel's eyes fell as every muscle in his body went still. Everyone's eyes were now on Hershel, examining his face. "He killed him?" he croaked, his eyes still closed, not wanting to believe it.

"He said he's sorry, he couldn't help it! He didn't wanna die, Daddy," Beth exclaimed with an insisting expression, defending him Jimmy all she could.

"No, it's fine. Just make sure he doesn't go out there alone, again," he commanded, his eyelids slowly opening to focus his attention on the young girl. He seemed to be fine, but Adrianne knew that he was furious thinking that Jimmy had murdered someone he thought was an innocent man, whom he believed was savable.

Adrianne laid in her bed that night, staring at the slowly darkening ceiling as the sun sunk further below the horizon. With her blankets pulled up to her nose she listened to the hushed movements of Otis below, keeping watch for the night; even though Hershel didn't want to admit that those people were dead and helpless, they could all agree that it was best to have a night watchman so they could sleep easy. Adrianne had a feeling that Hershel was starting to understand and accept the fact that they were gone, but she just couldn't find a way to convince him to kill them—again—instead of throw them into the barn.

She gently closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep, but she just couldn't do it, as she missed the feeling of Adam's warm body lying next to hers and keeping her safe. She never wanted to kiss him so bad in her life, with the exception of when she'd had a huge crush on him in high school.

She threw the heavy, white covers off of her body, tiptoeing on the wooden floor out of the room and towards the bathroom that neighbored her sons' room. She poked the corner of the mirror, popping it open, and rummaged through the medicine cabinet in search of something to help her sleep. Her hand grazed across a bottle of NyQuil, which she snatched out quickly, and spun the bottle in search of the expiration date. She cursed under her breath when the little black writing read June, twenty-eighth, two-thousand seven. Deciding to just ignore the date, she poured some into the little clear plastic cover, hoping that it would work a little bit—it tasted ghastly, but she had no choice, since Hershel no longer had alcohol in the house.

The floor was cold against her bare feet as she stepped lightly down the hallway to enter her completely darkened room. She stepped up to the window, peeled back a curtain to gaze at the bright, starry night sky that was brightened due to the lack of lights on Earth.

Allowing the curtain to fall back into place, she turned around slowly and collapsed onto her bed when she realized how tired she really was. Combined with her exhaustion, the heat wouldn't allow her to slip under the think blankets, and so instead stayed she on her stomach, falling into a deep, welcoming sleep.

* * *

Loud rummaging downstairs caused Adrianne to wake with a sudden jolt—she was still in the position she had fallen asleep in, and she pushed herself up with the adrenaline rush that came with the awakening jolt. Adrianne dressed quickly, in a pair of grey jeans that had a hole just above the knee, and a purple flannel shirt that she buttoned on the way down the stairs, where Nick was sitting at the bottom.

"Hey, buddy, whatcha doin'?" she asked, sitting down next to him for a brief moment just to slide on her socks and cowboy boots. He was holding Otis's guitar like a sacred gem that must never be taken out of his hands.

"Otis said he's gonna teach me guitar when he gets back from huntin' today," he explained excitedly, a smile plastered to his face as he contorted his fingers to figure out a cord.

"Well you're learnin' from the best, kid. Be happy he offered," she teased as she kissed his cheek and patted the top of his head. She called Will down from his room, and he ran down the stairs and stood next to Nick. "Stay in here, boys, okay? Will, make sure Nick stays in here. I'm gonna go help Patricia with the garden," she called, and as an almost immediate response, they nodded and agreed to behave.

"Don't worry, mom, I got it," he said, confidently, slightly puffing out his chest like he was the leader.

"Good," she chuckled, the grin not leaving her face when she made her way out the door, glancing out in the kitchen to see Hershel gathering pots and pans from the floor. In her head, she chuckled at how much of a klutz Hershel was.

The grass was beginning to get hard to walk through, causing anyone to walk through it to struggle, giving Adrianne the idea to get the trimmers and cut through it. The air was heavy with moisture, making it difficult to do hard labor because it was so hard to breathe. Adrianne wiped sweat from her brow with her shoulder as she reached the garden, finding Patricia tugging at the weeds around the tall plants with her gloved hands.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Adrianne called, standing out of Patricia's way by keeping her feet out of the freshly tossed dirt.

Patricia jumped, glanced at Adrianne, then stumbled to her feet, swooping down and heaving a giant pile of uprooted weeds into the wheelbarrow that was next to her. "Would you mind pickin' the tomatoes?" she asked, handing Adrianne a bushel basket from the stack next to the wheelbarrow and before dabbing the side of her face with her short sleeve. "And maybe some peppers, too," she added, picking up the handles of the wheelbarrow and began pushing it away before Adrianne could answer. She didn't bother asking, since Patricia had important things to do, and she was never joyous when it came down to chores.

"No problem," Adrianne mumbled with a little sass—she dropped the basket onto the dirt next to the newly-weeded tomato plants and began pulling the ripened tomatoes from the plant. "How long was I sleepin'?" she questioned once Patricia came back, pushing the now empty wheelbarrow.

"Quite awhile. But I s'pose you needed it, you haven't slept much these past few days," Patricia answered from behind her.

"Well, it sure did feel nice. Hope I didn't miss out on my chores 'cause of it," she responded while she took a big step to her right after all the redness was gone from the first plant, then lazily picked at the next one.

"No, you need it, you do it. We can handle things," she replied, reassuring Adrianne and making her feel better.

Once the straw basket was full to the brim of the plump red fruit, she grabbed the wire handles and stumbled out of the garden, stepping and hopping over the plants and weed piles Patricia produced. Adrianne was excited; it was plenty to make some of her mother's stewed tomatoes, the best she's ever had and the best Hershel has ever had. She gave her the recipe just before she died of pneumonia when Adrianne was only seventeen, leaving Adrianne to be with her drunken, and eventually abusive, father.

Adrianne hauled the basket back into the house, stumbling and struggling up the steps because of the heavy basket that felt like it was about fifty pounds. She dropped it onto the floor in front of the sink and switched on the cold water. She gathered her long, light brown hair into her hands and wrapped a hair tie snugly into it, holding it in a tight bun. She dumped some of the tomatoes into the sink and searched for the cleaning brush, tucking away the escaped strands of hair behind her ear—each clean tomato was set on the white granite counter next to the sink when she was done with it, ready to be cooked and eaten.

It seemed so late in the day; she knew she had slept a long time, which caused her to move slow, even though she was so energized. Hershel was in the backyard, and Adrianne watched him as saddled a tall, white and grey horse that was named Silver Bullet. He was Adrianne's horse. Maggie walked up to him and grabbed the reins from his hands, setting her foot in the stirrup and swinging her leg over Bullet. She wasn't taking her own horse, the brown one, which confused Adrianne and made her curious, so she continued watching their movements.

Hershel told her Maggie something as the horse began to walk away, and she shook her head in response with a pouty look on her face. She rode the horse into his stall and leapt down, lacing him up before storming out, noticeably angry with her father.

Adrianne tore her eyes from the window and ran the white brush over the tomatoes, washing the dirt off and watching as it twirled down into the drain. After she washed the last tomato, she held the wire handle on a hooked finger and propped it onto the porch, where it would be picked up and taken back to the garden tomorrow.

The sun was past its highest point, approaching the horizon steadily, and the shadows were at their shortest. Adrianne sank down on the white, flaking rocking chair and stared out into the empty yellowing field in front of her, watching the grass sway from the cooling breeze.

Maggie sped into the house without even looking at her, and Hershel followed her inside, noticeably pissed off. He was trying to talk to her, urging her to look at her and talk to him. Adrianne's eyebrows stitched to together as she burrows her face in her hands, knowing she'll hear about it later.

She turned her gaze back out into the field, where she spotted something unusual. It was moving—no, it was three dark objects, and as Adrianne narrowed her eyes and inclined her head slightly, she realized they were coming towards the house.

"Hershel! There's someone out there!" she exclaimed, searching the house for him. She rushed him, gently pushing him so he would understand her urgency and move faster.

Everyone spilled outside, watching a man in a sheriff's uniform, carrying a boy in his arms, and another dark haired man running far behind him with Otis.

"Was he bit?" Hershel called and he staggered down the steps.

"Shot," the man stated, "by your man," he added, his voice shaky. Adrianne assumed that it was his son by the way he was panicked, holding the boy close to his chest, frantically glancing between each of the faces that came out of the house.

"Otis?" Patricia exclaimed as she followed Hershel down the steps, not wanting to believe that Otis would shoot a little boy.

"He said to find Hershel. Is that you? Help me, please help me, my boy!" the man cried, controlling his sobs to keep them at a minimum.

Adrianne rushed inside, hearing everyone scramble in behind her as Hershel started barking orders—when she glanced behind her, she saw her uncle rolling up his sleeves, with Maggie scurrying to get an IV solution and Patricia leading Rick into the downstairs bedroom. She ran upstairs and into her own bedroom, fetching towels that the family stored in her closet, her hands trembling as she rushed to get back down there.

"Mom! What's wrong?" Nick exclaimed from the doorway of his room.

Adrianne stopped, set her hands on his shoulders and leaned down so she was eye-level with him. "Stay in there, okay, buddy? Don't you go down there until I say," she commanded him and ushered him back into his room, where Will was reading a book. "Will, you, too. Stay in here until I say," she told him, and he leapt to his feet, but Adrianne couldn't waste anymore time to lecture them.

She swiftly hurried down the stairs and raced into the room they had taken the injured boy to, then laid the towels in her hands out on the bed around him.

"Is–is he alive?" the man repeated over and over as Adrianne picked up a pillow and shook off the pillow case, handing it to him.

"Put pressure on the wound," Hershel instructed, and though the man was obviously too worried to focus, he cooperated—the room fell silent as Hershel moved his stethoscope to the boy's chest and listened. "I've got a heartbeat," he announced as he pulled the stethoscope back out of his ears, getting to his feet.

The man seemed relieved, though his voice was still shaky when he managed to say that his name was Rick. His face was glistening with sweat and his clothes were covered in the boy's blood, but he didn't seem to notice or care; his badly injured son was to be his only concern. Patricia stepped in to take over Rick's job and keep pressure on the boy's wound, telling Rick himself that he needed to leave.

"C'mon, you can wait out here," Adrianne urged, leading him out of the room with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Rick asked, still sounding panicky. "Is he…is he gonna…"

"Don't worry, Rick. Your boy is in good hands." Adrianne interrupted in a soothing voice, trying to keep him calm. "We know what we're doin' and we're gonna do everythin' possible, I promise."

Rick nodded slowly and then finally stepped outside. She watched him through the screen door for a second then hurried to the bathroom, rummaging around for the surgical tools that she kept there, already knowing that she would need them, even though Hershel didn't tell her to. On her way back she glanced outside and saw that Rick, who was standing on the porch, had been joined by a man that she didn't recognize—she assumed the stranger was friends with Rick, especially when he began wiping Rick's face with a rag that he pulled out of his pocket.

Adrianne tore her eyes away and rushed back into the room, setting the tray down and preparing to do whatever Hershel needed her to do. What if this was Nick, or Will? Every time she would look at the young boy's face, she would see her son, though she knew that's not who the boy was. She vowed to herself that was going to do everything she could to try to save this boy.


	2. Over My Head

**Chapter Two: Over My Head**

Hershel held his fourth towel over the wound as Adrianne hooked the IV bag onto a coat rack that she had brought in from the dining room. Rick, followed by the brown haired stranger and Otis, slowly made their way into the room, the other two men gawking at the boy's motionless body as Rick's eyes glistened with threatening tears.

"Do you know his blood type?" Hershel asked Rick as soon as he walked in, his tone echoing off of the walls of the big room. He carefully lifted the towel a bit and cocked his head to the side to examine the bleeding gunshot.

"A–positive, just like mine." He responded, his voice airy and weak, his eyes not moving away from his son; with an instinctive blink, the tears slid down his cheeks.

"That's fortunate. Don't wander too far, I'm gonna need you." Hershel told him. He then looked to Otis, who's face was etched with guilt and worry. "What happened out there?"

"I. . .shot a buck—bullet went clean through it." He stammered quietly, his eyes wide as they shot between Adrianne, Hershel and Patricia.

"The deer definitely slowed it down. Saved his life. But it did not go in clean. I'm countin' six fragments in there," Hershel explained, wiggling his fingers against the towel, feeling the inside of the wound. Otis turned to Patricia, defending himself, saying that he didn't see the boy until he was on the ground.

"Lori doesn't know. M–my wife doesn't know," Rick sobbed, covering his face with his hand; his friend put his arm around him, whispering in his ear, trying to comfort the poor man.

Adrianne took pity, dropping her gaze to the wooden floor, then gently ushered them out of the room to give them space as they worked. She sat down next to Hershel, facing the bed—taking the tray of surgical tools with her—and handed Hershel latex gloves and a surgical clamp. She and Hershel slid on their gloves when the boy woke up, who was startled and began to cry in pain when Hershel poked into the gunshot with the metal tool.

Maggie, who couldn't look more terrified, sped to the door, whipped it open and called for Rick in an impatient voice.

"He needs blood," Hershel bellowed as the boy cried for his dad to make the pain go away - Adrianne rushed to Rick and rolled up his sleeve.

"You," she heard Patricia say, "hold him down and don't let him move." Assuming she was talking to Rick's friend, Adrianne ignored her and quickly wiped down the anicubital space on Rick's arm with an alcohol swab she had torn open with her teeth. The boy screamed in pain just as Adrianne stabbed the needle into Rick's arm, making her jump and miss the vein.

"Stop, you're killing him!" Rick yelled, his voice rough like sandpaper, ignoring the fact Adrianne just harshly stabbed him in the wrong place and ripping his arm away from her grasp.

"Rick, you want him to live?" Hershel retorted, his voice loud and clear, but not taking his concentration off of the boy for one second.

"Rick, listen to me!" Adrianne urged, grabbing his arm with strong fingers to get his attention. "You have got to trust us! This is the only way and he needs blood!" She explained, hoping that he would snap out of it and listen to her.

"Do it now!" The brown haired man yelled. Rick flickered his eyes to Adrianne and then allowed her to stick the needle in his arm and attach the hose, one end connected to the needle and the other to the collection jar.

The boy suddenly stopped struggling and moving, his eyes fluttering closed, and the brown-haired man holding him down caught his breath, his voice coming out in just questioning, panicked sounds.

"He just passed out," Hershel soothed, continuing to dig around in the bloody wound with the clamp, his glove and tool covered in the boy's blood.

Adrianne worked her way beside Hershel, a hand around Rick's elbow, making sure to not get in Hershel's way as she stabbed the other needle into the boys arm. Then she attached the hose to the collection jar, and watched the blood in the jar draw into the boy.

"One down. Five to go," Hershel stated, holding a tiny piece of jagged metal in front of his eyes, twisting the clamp to examine it. Maggie left the room, concerned for the boy, while Adrianne pulled a chair from the corner of the room and placed it next to the bed for Rick to sit in.

They waited; Adrianne stood at the end of the bed with her hands resting on her hips, watching the blood fill the glass jar and then pump into Rick's son. Hershel strapped the blood pressure cuff around the boy's arm and put the stethoscope in his ears, listening as he pumped air into the cuff.

"Lori needs to be here. I need to go get Lori," Rick mumbled, glancing up at Adrianne with watery eyes.

"You have to stay here," Adrianne explained, shaking her head as she spoke. "Your boy needs you here. You can't leave for a while."

"She's his mother! Her son is laying here shot," Rick argued, his voice harsh yet quiet, completely opposite from the way he was before he gave blood.

"You can't leave the farm. We need you," she soothed, "he needs you," she added with a flick of her head in the boy's direction. Rick got up from the chair, stumbling to his feet, pulling the needle out of his arm. Adrianne protested as she bolted over to him, helping him to his feet, and pinched the place where the needle was to stop the bleeding. She reached behind her with her free hand and groped around for a bandage that Maggie had brought in for the boy. After she wrapped his arm, Rick stumbled out of her grasp and out of the room only to collapse on the chair next to the door.

"Adrianne, stay in here with him," Hershel commanded as he got up from the bed and walked out, announcing that he needed supplies to perform the much needed surgery.

"The high school." She heard Otis say as she sat down in the chair that Rick had been in.

"That's what I was thinkin'," Hershel agreed, his voice muffled behind the closed door.

"Doc, why don't you draw me a map I'll go and get it." The curly-brown haired man's voice said.

"You won't need one. I'll take you there," Otis responded, his tone equaling the guilt he carried because of what happened.

Patricia protested, arguing, and Adrianne's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, knowing that the school had been overrun a long time ago; she couldn't lose anyone else. She loved Otis like he was her uncle and didn't want him to go out there to be bait, mostly just because he wasn't in shape for running. He wouldn't have a high chance of surviving out there but he completely ignored the risk, making a fair point that the man didn't even know what the stuff looked like. Adrianne was about to volunteer herself, but she knew Hershel would need her there so she cleared that thought from her mind.

"Where is she? Your wife?" Maggie's voice, just outside the door, asked. Rick said she was somewhere out in the woods near the highway, and Maggie volunteered to go after her since Rick couldn't go himself. There was the sound of shuffling and rushing to get going, hearing the truck doors slam, then the sound of the engine starting.

She sat on the edge of the chair with her fingers laced together and her elbows resting on her knees. Again, her mind replaced the boy's face with Will's and she felt her eyes threaten to tear up as the door creaked open – Hershel and the boy's father came back into the room. She quickly blinked back the pointless tears and stood up, offering Rick her spot as she stepped away.

"What's his name?" Adrianne asked passively, a little embarrassed that she wasn't paying attention when he said his name before.

"Carl. His name's Carl," Rick answered, sitting down on the now open chair. Adrianne's eyes drifted back to Carl's pale body and watched his chest slowly move up and down as Hershel listened to his heart beat, saying that he would be fine for now.

Hershel followed Rick out into the living room, sitting down on the couch. Adrianne shut the door behind her as she quietly stepped out, heading upstairs to check on her boys.

"Nick? Will?" She called as she knocked on their slightly ajar door and walked inside. Nick was sitting on the bed, reading a picture book he brought from their house, and Will was on his green beanbag chair, drawing something in his sketchbook.

"Mom, what's goin' on?" Will questioned, peeking up from his drawing.

"A boy got shot. We are trying to save him." She explained as she sank down on the edge of Nick's bed.

"Is he okay?" Nick demanded, worry painting his face as he lowered the book to his side, his finger holding the page.

"He's fine, baby, for now," she answered, unknowingly sounding doubtful about Carl's chance of surviving this. "You can come down now, but don't go into the master bedroom down there." She warned, in a motherly tone and getting to her feet. She waited for them both to nod, making sure that they understood her instructions, and then exited the room, running her hands through her hair.

She made her way back downstairs, knocking on the bedroom door just in case Rick was in there. She heard muffled crying from behind the door, with Maggie sitting on the chair just outside the door. She must have come back when Adrianne was upstairs, since she hadn't seen them come in. When she opened the door, Rick was kneeling next to the bed, squeezing a dark haired woman's hip.

Rick looked over his shoulder at her, so she gave him a tight, toothless smile - surprisingly he returned the gesture before turning back to his crying wife. Adrianne picked up the black blood pressure sleeve from the nightstand and slipped it around Carl's arm, listening as she pumped air in it. As she pulled the stethoscope out of her ears she glanced at Rick, who was watching her intently.

"He needs another transfusion." She stated as she made a 'come here' gesture with her index finger. Rick shot up and held out his arm while he sped to Adrianne, who held a clean needle that was already connected to the hose. "Rick," she began, holding the needle away from him, "you can't give away too much blood. This'll have to be the last transfusion for—"

"You're wasting time," Rick interrupted, holding his arm out further towards Adrianne. Adrianne sighed and held his arm as she inserted the needle carefully, while Rick jumped when he felt the pinch.

Adrianne closed the door behind her gently and made her way to the kitchen, where Hershel was washing his hands.

"Rick's givin' another unit of blood." She informed him as she leaned against the counter with her hands holding onto the ledge.

"Alright. Y'know he's gonna need more than just two units, right?" Hershel asked her while drying his hands on a white kitchen towel. Adrianne nodded, hanging her head to gaze down at her feet.

"Hopefully Otis will get back in time," she hoped, her voice quiet yet doubtful. "If they get back." Her doubt was growing by every passing moment of the men being gone.

"When," Hershel corrected sternly, "when they get back." Adrianne sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, holding back her negativity.

"Yeah." She muttered as she rubbed her cheek before dropping her hand back to her side.

"How 'bout you make some orange juice for Rick. I'll go check the boy's blood pressure, and we'll be out soon," he instructed after a long stretch of silence. Adrianne nodded slightly and watched him shuffle out of the kitchen, her head still hung. She sighed as she turned around to face the counter, grabbing the edge of a basket and tipping it slightly to see what was inside. Onions. Then she tipped the next one to reveal potatoes, then the next one, which was what she was looking for.

She held two in each hand as she balanced them to the sink, dropping them in it to pick up a sharp kitchen knife. After giving them a thorough washing, she sliced each one in half and, in one giant step, opened a drawer to get the handheld juicer. As she squeezed the juice into a pitcher, the sound of footsteps bounced off the walls and got as close as the dining room. Adrianne quickly poured some of the juice into a tall glass, scooping four tablespoons of sugar and quickly mixed it in.

"Here," She announced as she sped into the dining room to hand the glass to Rick. He took one tiny sip, then lowered the glass. "Drink it all," Adrianne instructed, and he obeyed, bringing the glass back up to his mouth as she went back into the kitchen to finish her job.

As she was squeezing another slice, she overheard Lori call Otis 'the idiot that shot her son'. The juicer slipped out of Adrianne's hand and clattered into the sink, causing a silence in the dining room. She set her palms against the edge of the counter, her back teeth biting the tip of her tongue as she slowly blinked and turned around to see them staring at her.

"It was an accident," She spat, pushing herself away from the counter and storming into the dining room."If you don't believe that, you have some serious problems to think that Otis would shoot a boy on purpose." She continued, jabbing a finger at the dark-haired woman.

"Adrianne, calm down," Hershel eased, throwing her a sidelong glare.

"I am calm." She stated flatly as she gave Hershel a forced smile, then turned back to Lori. "Sometimes I wonder why God chose some people to survive," She added and Rick's head jerked to Adrianne at hearing that, his surprise noticeable on his face as she continued to stare at Lori. Lori stayed silent, absorbing what Adrianne said, her gaze dropping to the floor as she swallowed hard.

"So you've done this procedure before, right?" Lori asked, attempting to ignore Adrianne and turned her attention to Hershel.

"Well, yes, in a sense," He responded, ignoring Adrianne now as well.

"In a sense?" Lori demanded, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Honey, we don't have the luxury of shopping for a surgeon," Rick urged, gently touching her arm.

"You are a doctor, right?" She questioned.

"Yes, of course. A vet."

"A veteran. A combat medic," Lori said, hope filling her eyes. Adrianne snorted.

"No. A veterinarian," Hershel clarified, continuing to pretend Adrianne wasn't there.

"And you?" Lori demanded, turning her attention to Adrianne.

"An epidemiologist," She answered, knowing that she wouldn't had a clue what that was. Lori gave her a blank stare, as Adrianne expected. "I find the cure for diseases. Vaccines. I worked at the CDC," she explained warily. Lori and Rick exchanged surprised and hopeful glances, then their eyes darted from Hershel to Adrianne. When they looked at Adrianne, they had a slight look of confusion and wondering.

"And you did this surgery on what? Cows? Pigs? Or bacteria in a Petri dish?" Lori exclaimed as she snapped out of her confusion.

"I–I–need, to s–sit," Rick stammered as he pawed the air behind him, found the chair and collapsed, his other hand tipping over the empty glass on the table. Adrianne's hand bolted out to catch the glass and prevent it from breaking, then she stalked out of the dining room to leave them alone.

"You guys are completely in over your heads, aren't you?" Lori hissed just as Adrianne got to the kitchen.

"Ma'am, aren't we all?" Hershel responded, his voice serious and questioning.

Night fell and the absence of Otis and the other man began to worry them, causing Adrianne and Hershel to check Carl's blood pressure often to make sure they had time left. Time was running out as Carl slowly slipped toward death, and the atmosphere around them grew uneasy and anxious. Rick was sitting on the couch with his wife; he looked like he was going to pass out with his pale face and drooping eyes, and he was drinking orange juice faster than Adrianne could make it.

Adrianne offered her shoulder to escort him back into the bedroom, where Hershel was once again pumping the black sleeve around Carl's arm again. Rick leaned against the tan wall next to the door and nodded at Adrianne, telling her that he was okay to stand on his own.

"His pressure's droppin'. He needs blood and we are runnin' out of time," Hershel said, and Rick almost immediately jumped from the wall, his face suddenly alert.

"Take some more." He urged, holding out his arm to Adrianne, his bright blue eyes blazing, insisting that she take more.

"I can't take any more from you. Look at you, you can barely stand on your feet," Adrianne argued, gesturing for him to lean back on the wall, glancing up and down his weak body.

"They should have been back by now, something's wrong. I need to go after them," he pleaded Lori, who stood beside him in the doorway.

"You'll barely make it across the lawn, let alone five miles in a car. You'll pass out," Adrianne argued, then tuned them out as Lori began to take over the argument. Adrianne heard her actually say some logical things and she slowly began to tolerate her a little—not like, but tolerate.

Adrianne began to lose hope as she stared out the window, waiting for the slightest amount of light from headlights to slice through the darkness and she grew more and more impatient with each minute. She exited the room and sat down on the chair that was next to the window, it's back to the bedroom. She propped her elbows on her knees as she buried her face in her hands, tangling her fingers in her hair in frustration. Behind the closed door, she could hear Hershel talking to the couple in the room.

"Sorry she said those things. She just lost her husband and she's sensitive to that Irish temper of hers. Just don't say anythin' bad and you will grow on her soon enough." She heard him explain, his voice muffled, but she could still hear every single word he said. _If he's tryin' to be quiet, he's not doin' a very good job,_ Adrianne thought as she set her nose on her entangled fingers in front of her.

"Mom?" A young boy's voice said. Adrianne tore her eyes away from the window and saw Nick sitting down on the chair next to her with a worried look on his face. "Is that boy gonna be okay?" he asked, flickering his eyes over to the door of the bedroom that Carl was in.

"He's gonna be fine, we're just waiting for Uncle Otis to come back." She informed him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and planting a kiss on the top of his head.

Two car door slams rang and Adrianne bolted to the window to find out the source of the sudden sound. She was expecting the pale blue truck that Otis and Rick's friend had left in, but instead it was an old tan Cherokee that brought a black man and an Asian boy wearing a baseball cap. The black guy had a bandage on his arm, which looked like it was made out of cheap drugstore gauze and black electrical tape.

"Stay here, buddy." She told her son as she went back into the room where Rick, Lori and Hershel sat around the bed. She stood at the end of the bed, watching Hershel strap the black sleeve snugly around Carl's arm. "Hershel, there are two men who just got here," she told him, and he turned around to face her, pulling out the stethoscope from his ears.

Footsteps brought Adrianne's attention to the doorway when Maggie brought the two strangers in to see the injured boy. They glanced at her and she gave them a warm, welcoming smile as she let her arms drop to her sides from across her chest. The men stared at Carl's motionless body on the bed, gawking. Maggie escorted the men out of the room as Adrianne walked over to Hershel's side to slowly pull down the blanket . The wound was surrounded in a bruise-like color, swelling his belly out like a giant tumor.

"We don't have much time left," She stated grimly, gently lying the sheet back on Carl to hide the disgustingly discolored skin.

"If they don't get back soon we will have to operate without the respirator," Hershel informed the couple, pulling off the blood pressure sleeve. Rick and Lori exchanged glances like they were both looking equally torn on what to do. "It's highly unlikely that it'll work, but we don't have a choice. If they don't get back soon, you have a decision to make."

Lori jumped up from the chair, her face twisting as tears rolled down her cheeks, and Rick stumbled up to follow her, his expression unreadable. Adrianne and Hershel stayed in the room, gazing at Carl, praying that Otis would get back alive and in time to save him.

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**A/n: Thanks so much for reading! I know it took me a while to upload this, but I've been pretty busy. **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review, alert and favorite! Thank you to everyone who reviewed and followed! It means a lot!**

**And go check out my beta reader, Carrot Top! She's an amazing writer and she has some pretty awesome stories. **


	3. All Things Hated

**Chapter Three: All Things Hated**

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Adrianne smeared peanut butter on a piece of white bread that was sitting on a paper plate next to another slice covered in grape jelly, then put them together. She picked up the plate and held it in one hand as she picked up a tall glass of orange juice with the other. Then she strolled through the dining room and the living room, tucking the glass in between her forearm and her stomach as she twisted the doorknob and pushed it open.

"Hey," she announced as she walked in, holding the glass back into her free hand, glancing up to find Rick in the room. "You need to eat this. And keep drinkin' this to get sugar in your blood," she added as she held out the plate when she reached his side.

Rick didn't take it, instead he just blankly stared at his son with watery eyes. She leaned down a bit, cocking her head to the side to get a better look at his face. "Rick?" She asked and slowly, he turned his head to stare at her with the same blank, pale face. "You gotta keep your strength up." He looked away like she hadn't said anything at all - she pursed her lips and instead set the plate and glass on the nightstand next to him. She glanced at him as she stood in the doorway, her hand on the wall, then turned back to leave Rick with Carl.

Patricia sat at the dining room table, turned away from the table to face the black man - who was cringing - as she laced black suturing thread through a swollen cut in his arm, then glanced to Adrianne when she heard her footsteps reverberate around the room.

"Adrianne, can you get me some fresh gauze?" She asked, focusing back to her patient and flipping her hair out of her face.

"Sure," Adrianne answered warily, her mood suddenly dropping as depression overwhelmed her. She never liked being bossed around and in this house, she was bossed around on a daily basis - that and Hershel talking about Adam made her tumble back into that deep black hole that she struggled to climb out of recently.

In the bathroom upstairs, Adrianne searched through the top drawer of the vanity unit then the middle drawer, finding a basket of individually wrapped gauze pads and grabbing a handful. She turned off the light as she left; she didn't hear any noise coming from her sons' room, so she walked to it and peeked her head inside, not seeing them in there.

She sprinted down the stairs and sped to Patricia and threw the gauze pads on the table next to her, setting her hands on her hips.

"Have you seen Nick or Will?" Adrianne demanded, concern filling her voice**.** Patricia looked up, brushing the stubborn blonde hair from her forehead.

"I saw 'em go outside, but I dunno if they're still out there," she answered and Adrianne immediately broke into a jog and whipped open the screen door, scanning the dark for any sign of them.

"Nick! Will!" she called. She swiftly stepped down the steps of the porch and jogged away from the light of the porch, her heart racing in panic. They were standing by the fence taking turns juggling a soccer ball between each other. "What are you doin' out here?" she snapped, trying to quiet her anger so she wouldn't begin shouting and draw any unwanted attention that might be lingering around.

"We wanted to play soccer," Will explained, bending down to pick up soccer ball that was at his feet.

Angrily, Adrianne snatched the ball from his hands, her eyes wide and furious. "You don't go anywhere without askin' me first, you hear?" she scolded through gritted teeth, her cheeks burning with anger as she glanced between the boys. Nick was totally silent; a terrified look was plastered on his face.

"But Mom—" Will started to argue.

"I said no! Now get in the goddamn house, and you stay there!" she interrupted, jabbing her finger to the house and they ran away from her in a hurry, Nick behind his older brother.

Adrianne took a deep breath and slowly began following the gravel driveway to the house, tucking the ball in between her waist and arm. She glanced up from the ground and saw that Rick and Lori were standing on the porch - she could tell they were arguing, even from the distance she was at.

"Tell me why it would be better the other way," Adrianne overheard Lori say. Rick glanced at Adrianne when she climbed up the steps of the porch, but Adrianne tried to keep her gaze ahead, trying not to look over in their direction so it didn't seem like she was eavesdropping.

Adrianne set the ball on the porch underneath the rocking chair so it wouldn't roll down the steps, and entered the lit house. She slowly made her way into the room Carl was in and sat down on the chair in the corner of the room, staring out the window.

Adam's cries for help flooded her mind as she stared out into the blackness, followed by the cries of the people in the barn when they were alive and healthy. Then she was brought back to the dark store and she was running for her life, feeling Maggie clawing at her arm every time Adrianne turned around to try to find Adam. The infected were swarming the store, flooding around the spot she figured Adam was like vultures to a carcass. She was too shocked to cry - instead her eyes were peeled wide open, without blinking and making them painfully dry.

Crying wasn't something she did very often; even losing her best friend and husband didn't make her shed a single tear. Instead, she would just stay silent and zone out, dwelling in her own little world so she wouldn't have to deal with the hardships of the real world. It worked for her - though Hershel thought that it was bad to not cry; like she had no feelings.

Suddenly she bolted up from the chair, tearing her eyes from the window and speeding out of the room, up the stairs, and into her bedroom. She turned to her left, walking up to the walk-in closet, and pulled open the doors, crossing her legs as she sank down onto the white carpet in front of the safe that was hidden behind a few hanging dresses. Adrianne pushed the dresses away, leaning to the side so they would slide behind her. _Thirty–eight, twenty–two, nine, _she said in her head as she turned the dial, then she pulled the lever and the safe popped open. Inside the safe was a small silver gun - a three-fifty-seven Derringer - and she picked it up, pulling barrel out and down, showing the bullet in the bottom barrel and a shotgun shell in the top one. There were tons of boxes of ammo in the safe; it was almost filled completely with ammo. She knew she will need it. There was no way they would be safe here forever. _Better safe than sorry, _the cliché echoed through her mind.

Footsteps began coming up the stairs, which made her heart leap as she jumped to her feet and stuffed the gun in the back of her jeans, pulling her shirt over it to conceal it.

"Adrianne? We need you," Hershel called from the stairs, "we're doin' the surgery." Adrianne swiftly bolted to the doorway.

"Are they back?" she exclaimed and Hershel slowly shook his head with a frown spreading across his face. Adrianne's stare dropped to the floor as she pursed her lips and nodded in understanding. Hershel turned and went back down the stairs and Adrianne hesitantly followed as she rubbed her forehead in frustration.

Downstairs, Patricia was wheeling in a tall metal operating table into the room Carl was in. On her way to into the room, Adrianne picked up a lamp from the end table next to the couch and unscrewed the shade as she walked, lifting it off and setting it down next to the doorway. She set it down on the table and searched for the nearest outlet and plugged it in - Patricia pulled the two chains to turn on each light bulb, and the table was brightened as it reflected the light. Hershel called for Adrianne to help with Carl, whom was lying on top of a sheet that each corner was being held by Rick, Lori and Hershel. She obeyed and gathered her corner of the sheet in her hand; Hershel counted to three and they all lifted Carl and brought him to the operating table.

A loud car door slammed, causing everyone to halt in their tracks and jerk their attention to the window. Adrianne, who was the only who could see out the window, saw the old blue truck they were all waiting anxiously for. Her eyes shot to Hershel and Patricia - they both immediately knew that they were back and they scurried out the door, Adrianne following close behind them.

Outside, she saw the brown-haired man step out of the driver's side, limping as he held Otis's rifle and Rick's revolver in either hand. He leaned the rifle against the front of the truck and held out the revolver to Rick, who took it and slipped it into his holster. Adrianne's eyes darted from in between Rick and his friend to the passenger seat of the truck, searching for any sign of Otis.

"Otis?" she asked in a hoarse voice, looking back at Rick's friend.

He glanced at her, his face softening as he shook his head once, hanging his head. Air rushed out of her mouth as she set her hand on the back of her head and turned around, the other hand over her mouth with her eyebrows pulling upwards as she squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands dropped back to her sides as she began to storm back into the house, battling the emotions that were clouding her mind. She rubbed her face with both hands as she walked into the bedroom, seeing Patricia waiting patiently for them to come back inside. Trying as hard as she could, Adrianne erased the sorrow that began to grow onto her face so Patricia wouldn't figure it out; her loss would distract her from the surgery.

Adrianne heard footsteps come back inside and she turned around, seeing two duffle bags in each of Hershel's hands as he set them on the floor and began riffling through them. After he found the respirator under some surgical tubing, IV's, more bandages and a ton of disinfectant, Hershel slipped it onto Carl's face. Adrianne wondered what was in the other bag, so she kneeled down to unzip it and look at the contents. There were more gauze pads, but there were also surgical masks and tools that they desperately needed. She handed a mask to everyone else before she put one on herself and reached for sterile latex gloves that were also in the bag. Hershel and Patricia got their own as Adrianne picked up the scalpel from the tray that was sitting on the bed and slowly pushed it into the darkening skin…

Sometime later she pulled off her bloodied gloves and threw them into the trash can that was sitting underneath the table. Hershel went outside to meet with Rick and Lori, telling them the surgery went well and their son was going to live. Adrianne walked out onto the porch, seeing Rick giving Hershel a tight, but manly, hug. He pulled away, smiling at Hershel and he turned to Adrianne - she held out her hand for a handshake, but Rick instead pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and he thanked her profusely, backing away so Lori could do the same. Adrianne wasn't expecting Lori to say anything, but she also gave her a grateful hug, doing the same that Rick had done.

Adrianne smiled at them as they went back into the house to see their son and she followed them inside, going up to her room to sit on her bed. She reached over to the nightstand and picked up her book, picking out the bookmark to stare at the page.

Adrianne jolted awake when a loud motorcycle sliced through the silence of her dream; the engine cut off as soon as she was awake. She looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep with the book on her chest, still in her day clothes. Groggily, she inhaled deeply and stretched out her legs as she yawned and set the book back onto her nightstand. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, staring blankly at the carpeted floor until she finally realized she was daydreaming again and shook her head, standing up from the bed. She began to unbutton her flannel shirt as she made her way to the open closet, pulling the shirt off of her shoulders and getting a black racer-back tanktop from a hanger before pulling it over her head. As she slipped her arms through the holes, she noticed that she left the safe open and quickly swooped down to shut it, then felt her back for her gun. To her surprise, it was still there. She temporarily took it out to change her jeans and put it right back in after she was changed.

She slipped her feet into her boots and walked down the stairs, hearing nothing but a dead silence; she glanced outside to see everyone plus more people she didn't know surrounding a big mound of stones. Adrianne assumed it was a memorial for Otis and she slowly walked out to meet them.

"Sorry, I, uh, didn't know you guys were doin' this," she explained, scratching her head when she saw everyone staring at her. She made her way to Maggie's side, who gave her a toothless smile as she faced the memorial and laced her fingers in front of her body. Nick and Will scrambled to her from Lori's side, noticeably nervous around the strange woman.

Hershel asked the—now bald—brown haired guy to share Otis's final moments, calling him Shane. He argued that he wasn't good at it, but Patricia begged him.

"We were 'bout done, down to pistols. My ankle all swollen up. It was pretty bad. 'We gotta save the boy.' See, that's what he said. He gave me the bag and shoved me ahead. Said 'go, I'll cover the rear.' So I did—and I—I looked back…and he was…" he stammered, glancing between Patricia and Hershel. He picked up a stone and limped over to the pile, his ankle still bothering him from the night before. "I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Otis. Nor Carl," he added, setting the stone down

Adrianne cocked her head to the side, her eyebrows furrowing together as her eyes darted to Hershel and Patricia, who had their heads hung, staring at the ground, Patricia shaking with sobs. _I can't be the only one who noticed that,_she thought, searching everyone's face for suspicion, hoping she wasn't the only one or else she was just paranoid. Shane's voice had suddenly turned cold when he said that. Her gaze fell on an old man with a short white beard - who must have been from Rick's group - sharing the same look that she had.

She tuned Hershel's voice out and trailed off into her own thoughts, trying to decipher if she was just jumping to conclusions too quickly. Her mind flashed back to when Shane came back without Otis. He had Otis's rifle - he leaned it against the truck; he had Rick's revolver and his pistol was in his holster. _Why would Otis take the rear unarmed?_ Adrianne wondered. He wouldn't. _I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Otis. Nor Carl,_Shane's echoed repeatedly in her mind. His voice didn't sound remorseful at all when he said that; and the way he would shift his weight from each foot along with how he avoided eye contact and seemed nervous. Just by his passive movements Adrianne knew he was lying.

Everyone began to walk away, Rick's group setting up camp in their front yard while Hershel went inside with the rest of Adrianne's group. Adrianne shook off her suspicion and strolled up to her room, tied on her blue and white soccer shoes(**,**) and headed back outside. On the porch, she nudged the soccer ball that was under the rocking chair with the toe of her shoe, pushing it down the steps, stepping down after it. She passed the ball between each foot as she walked to the big open field in the back yard. This was the only way that she knew of to blow off steam; the only way that was allowed in Hershel's house, that is.

Once she got to the side yard, she broke into a jog, steadily dribbling the ball. Then in one quick motion, she stepped one foot in front of the ball, squeezing it tight between her heel and the inside of the foot behind the ball and rolled it up her calf, kicking her leg back as she leaned forward, causing the ball to sail over her head and land in front of her in a graceful rainbow. She jogged with it until she was about fifty yards from the single goal that was in the yard and backed up a few steps from the ball. She brought her foot up behind her and caught it in her hand, stretching out her thigh; she pushed her weight off as she began to sprint and swung her leg back, sticking the ball in the center perfectly. It flew into the air and hit the netting of the goal, getting tangled inside of it as it dropped to the ground.

She jogged to the goal and picked it out of the net with her foot, bringing it out of the goal and flicking it straight up in the air, juggling it between either foot, keeping her attention glued to the ball as she kicked it up to juggle it on her knees, then brought it back down to her feet.

"You got some skills, there," she heard a deep, southern manly voice call. She let the ball fall to the ground in between her feet and glanced up at Rick, who was steadily approaching her, his hands resting on his hips.

"Thanks," she stated flatly, staring down at the ball that she was pushing forward with the laces of her shoes.

"You play?" he questioned, looked at her from under his hat, squinting from the setting sun.

"I played in college," she answered, staring down at the ball which she was pushing around with her feet.

"You seem pretty good," he complimented, trying to make some conversation with her. She didn't really feel like talking to anyone, much less him. She knew it wasn't Rick who had anything to do with Otis's death, but she couldn't help but have some caution around him too.

"Thanks," she paused. "Don't know how it's gonna get me anywhere in this world, though" she added with a growing frown as she looked up at him.

"Gets your mind off of it, right?" he asked, glancing down at the ball that she began to bend down to pick up. "Whatcha got there?" he suddenly demanded.

She held up the hand that bore the ball. "A ball," she stated in an obvious tone, her eyebrows stitching in confusion. He gave her an agitated stare, exhaling loudly as he stifled a chuckle. Then she realized what he was talking about and pulled the gun out from the back of her pants. She held it up, and then suddenly dropped it to her side, buckling her knee. "Why were you lookin' at my ass?" she demanded, a smug grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

His cheeks turned pink and he looked away, clearing his throat as he shifted his weight to his other foot. "That's alright, it's not like I haven't done it too," she teased, being way more flirtatious than she expected herself to be and she mentally slapping herself for it.

"Thanks for lettin' us stay here," he broke the awkward silence with another clearing of the throat.

"No problem. But it's not permanent," she replied and his head jerked to her direction, his eyes widening a little. "Listen, we're glad to help you. But you can't stay here," she explained.

"You can't send us back out there," he retorted, harshness in his voice.

"It's not really up to me. But I'll talk to Hershel about it," she responded and without waiting for his response, she jogged back to the house after she dropped the ball back to the ground to dribble it back. Sooner or later, Rick's group will have to leave - they never take in strangers permanently, only because of one memorable incident that wouldn't erase from any of their memories.

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**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you are enjoying this story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed/alerted, it means a lot to me! (:**

**S/O to Carrot Top, my beta reader. Thanks for putting up with me. :D **

**If you were wondering who I picture Adrianne as, I would say she looks like Kate Beckinsale, the woman in the picture. **

**Please leave reviews and alert/favorite. Love you guys!**


	4. Pain and Darkness

**Chapter Four: Pain and Darkness**

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Adrianne sat on the porch, enjoying the cooling evening air and waited for the sun to set so she could look at a beautiful sunset sky. Nick and Will were messing around in the living room, laughing and running around. The noise caused Hershel to scold them, telling them the house wasn't a playground and that they might break something. _Sounds 'bout right, _Adrianne thought to herself, a small smile tugging at her lips by hearing Hershel's scoldings. They reminded her of when her parents would take her to Hershel's house when she was growing up; she would get the same scolding if she was messing around with her younger cousins.

The day had been full of unexpected events – a crossbow-wielding man named Daryl went out into the woods by himself to search for a girl that had gone missing from Rick's group and came back empty handed, and instead got the side of his head grazed by a bullet when a woman from the group mistook him as one of the infected and decided to prove herself by shooting him with a sniper rifle; she still missed even with a very precise weapon. Adrianne had to patch him up with just the little antiseptic they had left and wrapping gauze.

With a yawn, Adrianne pushed herself up from the rocking chair and headed back inside the house, knowing Maggie and Patricia would be preparing dinner. When she got into the dining room, though, she saw Maggie setting the table and there were unfamiliar voices in the kitchen. Adrianne narrowed her eyes as she flickered them to the kitchen, seeing a woman with short grey hair and Lori peeling potatoes, chopping herbs and vegetables, and stirring something in a pot.

"What's it with them?" Adrianne demanded, gazing back at Maggie, whose expression was unreadable as she glanced up from setting down silverware.

"They wanted to be nice, so Carol and Lori are makin' us dinner tonight," she explained, straightening up once she finished setting the last spot on the table.

"Huh," Adrianne huffed in response, glanced back into the kitchen, and made her way into the living room.

Nick was standing in front of the couch, eating a peach. Adrianne suddenly had an idea pop into her head - she leaned onto her tiptoes, hunching her back and crept up behind him, suddenly grabbing him. "Argh!" she yelled, laughing as she spun him around, her arms wrapped around his waist tightly so she wouldn't accidentally let go. He squealed and began to giggle, and she set him back onto his feet. "Whaddya doin'?" she asked as she kneeled down in front of him, giving him a wide grin while she fixed his shirt where it was all bundled up.

"Mom, you made me drop my peach," he whined, staring down at his half–eaten peach on the wood floor in front of the couch.

The sound of footsteps brought their attention to behind Adrianne; Lori came into the room, flashed a tight smile at them, and hurried into the room Carl was in. Adrianne looked back at Nick, who was watching Lori with an intimidated look on his face. "She's not gonna hurt ya, Nick, calm down," Adrianne laughed, rubbing his upper arm soothingly.

"She's not very nice," he said, his voice quiet as he nervously swayed.

"Tell you what," she said, tucking away a strand of hair from his forehead, "if she gives you problems, just let me or Uncle Hershel know." Nick nodded as he dropped his gaze to the floor, staring at his feet as Adrianne pushed on her thigh to get to her feet and swooped down to pick up the half eaten peach. "I'll go get you another one," she assured him, holding up the peach and strolling into the kitchen, stepping out of Carol's way. She groped for another one in a bushel basket propped on the counter and moved to the sink to run water over both the half eaten peach and the whole one. She left the half-eaten one in the sink – they never threw away the seeds of any of their fruits and vegetables.

"Adrianne, is it?" a soft female voice asked, and Adrianne turned her head to see the woman with the short haircut watching her with an innocent look on her face.

"Yeah, you are?" Adrianne asked, turning back to the basket to fish out another peach for herself, then rotating her body to face to woman and hold out her hand for a handshake.

The woman grabbed it, shaking it weakly, and gave a tight smile. "Carol," she stated in her soft voice, giving Adrianne a single nod.

"Nice to meet you, Carol," Adrianne responded, reaching behind her to get one more peach and hold it in her teeth as she walked out of the kitchen to find her son.

As she reached up to hold the peach and take a bite out of it, she came to a complete stop when she saw Will sitting on the couch, reading his book. Adrianne glanced around, her eyebrows stitching together as she slowly chewed the peach; Nick was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where'd Nick go?" she asked him, and Will looked up from his book.

"Oh, he went up in his room," Will answered as his gaze fell to the peaches in her hand. "Can I have it?" he asked, looking back at her with puppy-dog eyes.

"No," she said, her upper lip pulling upwards as she vigorously shook her head.

"Why?" he asked, his green eyes getting big and his mouth dropping open like he was offended.

"Nick dropped his after I scared him," she giggled as she took another bite of her peach, "I'm gettin' him another one. So get your own."

"But you're the mom," he laughed after she turned around and began walking away. Adrianne halted and whipped around, her smile turning into a smile–slash–gape.

"Yeah, you little shit?" she exclaimed, storming toward him and grabbing his head in a loose choke hold, rubbing her knuckles playfully on the top of his head. "You have legs. Use 'em," she laughed as she let him go. He giggled as he got to his feet and playfully pushed her. She swiftly stepped forward to regain her balance, then patted Will's back as he strolled into the kitchen.

She shook her head in amusement and ran up the stairs. Nick was cross-legged on his bed when she came in, doodling in a notebook.

"Here," Adrianne said as she held out the peach, standing by the end of the bed, and he took it excitedly. "That's all you get for now, dinner's almost ready," she stated and reached over to ruffle his light brown hair.

"Thanks," he replied. Adrianne studied him, examining the length of his hair.

"You need a haircut, kid," she mused reaching over to comb through his hair with her fingers. She knew how much he hated the haircuts she would give him; one time he even tried to cut his hair himself so she wouldn't do it. She'd had to do it anyway since it was all uneven, and he ended up getting _all _of his hair cut off.

"No!" he exclaimed, crawling away and moving to the front of the bed so he was out of Adrianne's reach.

"Not now. But the time will come, Nicholas," she playfully threatened, shaking her pointer finger at him as she narrowed her eyes.

"Adrianne! Nicholas! Dinner!" Hershel called from downstairs.

"C'mon, Nick!" Adrianne cheered as she waved him over to her, and he rushed on over to her side. She gently put her hand on his upper back, ushering him in front of her so he would walk ahead. Once they got downstairs, Nick rushed to his chair at the kiddie table and Adrianne sat down at her normal spot, next to Hershel; a blonde girl she'd never seen before sat on her other side. Will, Maggie, the Asian boy, Jimmy and Beth sat at the kiddie table next to the main one, the older people having a look of being out of place on their faces.

Adrianne's eyes fell on Shane, who was eating his food quickly and avoiding eye contact with everyone by keeping his head hung; he glanced up once at Adrianne, and she jerked her attention away from him, looking down at her plate of green beans and mashed potatoes. The dining room was silent of voices - the only sound was that of silverware scraping against the plates. Adrianne picked up her fork and stabbed some beans, then slowly chewed them.

"Does anyone know how to play guitar?" the Asian boy asked, breaking the silence. Adrianne looked up from her plate through her lashes at him; he was turned around with a soft smile on his face as he flickered his eyes from each of their faces. "Dale found a cool one from the highway. Just wondering if anyone can play it," he explained when no one responded.

"Otis did," Patricia said softly, who was playing with the potatoes on her plate with the fork. Adrianne's eyes flicked back to Shane, whose face fell as he hung his head once more, his nose quivering as he sniffed.

"Adrianne is pretty good," Hershel suggested after a long silence; Adrianne jerked her gaze up from her plate, her eyes flickering between everyone staring at her.

"Well, I can play. . .just not as good as Otis," she replied, shrugging and frowning as she toyed with the fork in her hand. Her gaze fell on Shane, who was staring at her again, and she added, "Unfortunately, we will never get to hear how good he was." Shane tore his eyes away, eating the last of his food, avoiding looking at Adrianne until they finished dinner.

* * *

The next day, Adrianne managed to wake herself up early for once, waking from a nice dream from when she was in college playing at a championship soccer game. Groggily, she rubbed her eyes as she stretched out, not noticing that she'd kicked off her blankets in her sleep. She rolled onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, eyes staring blankly at the floor as she zoned out for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something in the corner of the room, sitting on the pale-blue satin Victorian style chair in the corner of her room. She snapped out of her daydream and drifted her eyes to the mysterious figure, then jumped up from the bed, getting to her feet swiftly as she backed into her nightstand.

Adam sat there silently, wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans that were frayed on the bottom, fading at the knees – he was wearing the same clothes he had the day before he died.

Adrianne sat on her nightstand, gripping the edge of it tightly with sweaty hands, breathing heavily and eyes wide as she gaped. She bravely squeezed her eyes shut tight, attempting to calm her breathing. As she slowly opened them again and looked up, he was gone. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for any trace of him, but he was gone. Adrianne relaxed and buried her face in her hands, rubbing her cheeks as her eyes got hot and pooled with tears in result of her fear.

Quickly, she changed out of her nightgown and into a clean black tanktop and soccer pants, trying hard to clear her mind off what she had just seen. She raced outside, looking for anything to get her mind off of her husband. Patricia was pushing a wheelbarrow down the gravel walkway, headed towards the barn – there was a flour sack inside the wheelbarrow, and something could be seen poking around underneath it. _Poor chickens, _Adrianne thought, _they would be better if they were for __us_. She shook her head as she continued walking to the horse barn.

"Mornin'," Adrianne greeted Hershel as she got inside; he was grooming Nelly.

"Where you goin'?" he demanded, glancing up momentarily from combing out the horse's mane.

"To chop some wood. I'll be back in a few hours," she explained, walking to the next stall to her horse and picking up a brush to run it through Silver Bullet's mane.

"Nervous Nelly," an unfamiliar man's voice said. "She find her way back?" His voice scared Adrianne, making her glance behind her to see who it was.

"Found her in her stall this mornin'," Hershel answered back as Adrianne set down the brush quietly, unknowingly eavesdropping. She moved to the stand that had Bullet's saddle perched on it, brushing the dirt and dust off of it. Then she picked up the heavy saddle, heaving it up onto Bullet, who shifted slightly once the saddle touched him.

"—I ended up, by the barn," the man said. "I heard the moans." Adrianne immediately halted, turning her head slightly to listen more closely.

"We don't kill sick people," she heard Hershel say as she tightened the strap of the saddle around the horse's belly.

"I saw people that I care about die. . .and then come back. They are _not_ people," the man argued, and Adrianne jumped onto the horse's back, holding the reins in both hands as she gently squeezed Bullet with her legs, clicking her tongue to get him to start walking. The man began to walk away as Adrianne left stall; it was the old man that had shared the same expression as her when Shane explained what happened with Otis. She pulled the reins to the left, turning Bullet to face Hershel.

"What the hell was that?" Adrianne demanded, her eyebrows pulling together.

"Someone can't keep their mouths shut," Hershel responded angrily, glaring at Adrianne.

"Hey, I didn't say nothin'," Adrianne exclaimed, raising her hands up in defense.

"Well someone did," Hershel hissed.

"C'mon," she mumbled, deciding to leave Hershel be, and ushered Bullet to turn around and begin walking out towards the woods. As he walked her stare was glued on Rick's group, who were eating their breakfast in innocence. Adrianne tore eyes away and back to in front of her, guiding her horse to the trees. Adrianne clicked her tongue to get Bullet to gallop into the woods, following a trail of matted down leaves and brush that they used when they were going to cut down trees.

The only sound that came to Adrianne's ears were the snapping of twigs and crunching of dead leaves beneath Bullet's hooves. Occasionally, she would click her tongue to get him to speed up whenever she had an uneasy feeling. The shade the tall trees cast blocked out the sun, making it cooler than it was at their farm, but it was still hot enough to make sweat start pouring off her back.

A spot of sun emerged from behind the trees and Adrianne tugged the reins gently, swinging her right leg over to meet her left one and sliding off Bullet. She walked the rest of the way to the opening, then tied Bullet to a tree. _Jimmy left a bunch of wood back here, _Adrianne thought – he must have really been scared to leave all of it there. There was still a huge pile that needed to be cut from the tree he chopped down, so Adrianne flipped her head down, gathered her hair, and tied it to the top of her head in a snug ponytail. She strolled over to the stump and grabbed both the handle of the sledgehammer and the wedge that sat next to it. Before she did anything else, she picked up a piece of round wood and set it on the stump, then put the wedge in the middle and tapped the end of it with the sledgehammer. Once it was snug in the wood, she lifted the sledgehammer above her head and swung it down with all her strength, splitting the wood with the one strike.

A disturbance in the brush jolted Adrianne's attention away from the tree stump, and she searched around the woods behind her, her sight suddenly sharpening. Her breathing soon became ragged and her heart started pounding with a battle of fear and anxiety.

"Hello?" she called out, holding the twenty pound sledgehammer horizontally in both her hands. There was no response, which made Adrianne's heart leap and her stomach churn. She nervously wiped her forehead with the hem of her tank top, hands a little shaky, and licked her lips as she slowly shuffled to the side, heading for Silver Bullet – Adrianne kept the sledgehammer held tight in her right hand the entire time.

"Let's go, Bullet," she said to the horse while she untied him from the tree, and as soon as he was free, he began to trot; Adrianne briefly jogged beside him before propping her foot in the stirrup and swinging her leg over to the opposite side. She held the hammer in one hand as she steered Bullet with the other, keeping her eyes peeled for anything suspicious. The hammer was definitely slowing her down, but due to all of her sport's practices and her workouts, she had abnormally strong arms – which was a huge advantage when she had to carry a twenty pound sledgehammer around.

Suddenly, an infected corpse came from her left side and grabbed her foot. Adrianne cried out as the man pulled her from the horse and, in her surprise, she dropped the hammer from her grasp. Bullet whinnied, reared onto his back legs, then bolted away, heading straight for the farm.

Adrianne scrambled backwards, her eyes turning to the infected man but her mind suddenly replaced the dead man's face with Adam's. She stopped backing away – instead she waited for Adam to catch up to her, watching him crawl along the forest floor. Everything else around her was a blinding blur, except for the dead man that was wearing Adam's face. She couldn't move; the sledgehammer was next to her now, but she didn't make any effort to grab it. She believed it was really Adam, and her body relaxed when everything slowed down. She slowly began to sit up, reaching out to touch Adam.

Before her fingers were able to land on his cheek, time suddenly sped up again and something pierced through Adam's head, accompanied by the ghastly sound of flesh and bone tearing as his head jolted to the left, blackened gore spewing out of the side. Adrianne jerked her hand back, her eyes wide in surprise, then she scrambled backwards before the corpse fell on her legs.

"No!" she screamed as she stared up at Shane, who was now pointing his pistol at her. "I'm not bit!" she added, her hand blocking the pistol from her view.

"Dammit girl, what the hell're ya doin' out here?" the man hissed as he lowered his gun and shifted his weight onto one leg. Without blinking, her eyes moved down to the dead man that was below her feet. She didn't realize how hard she was breathing until she began to calm down. Adrianne squeezed her eyes closed, focusing on the sweat that was beginning to fall down from her hair. She opened her eyes again, looking back up at the man that she didn't trust by any means; she got to her feet looking around the woods for anything that would explain what just happened.

"I could ask the same about you," Adrianne responded, still searching around the woods.

"I asked first," he argued, looking to his left.

"None o'yer concern," she spat and slowly bent down to pick up the sledgehammer; her left hip and elbow throbbed in pain after the high fall from Bullet.

A twig snapped somewhere on her right and they both turned to the sound, seeing Rick come out from behind the dark trees. "What's goin' on?" he demanded as he glanced between the two.

"I fell off my horse," Adrianne answered and limped forward, clutching her hip with her free hand, her face twisted in a painful grimace.

"What the hell were you doin' reachin' out to a walker like that?" Shane demanded her.

"Why the fuck do you care?" she hissed in response. Whenever she was in pain, she turned into a downright bitch and she couldn't help it, as much as she wanted to.

"Those things are dangerous," Shane pressed.

"Get off my back! I'm alive, aren't I?" she hissed, causing Shane to back off, and Rick's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Do you need—" Shane started.

"I'm fine," she interrupted as she continued limping forward and threw the hammer up to grab hold of it further up the handle. They left her alone while she limped past them, heading back for the farm. She knew the house wasn't far; she got far enough with Bullet that she knew she wouldn't be walking too long.

Finally, the house came to view after a short walk. Adrianne went straight to the stall, hoping Bullet was there, and sure enough he was, just waiting outside the stall to be let inside. She quickly put him away and started walking back to the house.

"Hey, Adrianne," someone called from behind her. She halted and glanced toward Lori. "I was wonderin' if you wanna go to gun trainin' with us today. We're leavin' once Rick and Shane get back," she suggested, setting her hands on her hips, keeping her distance from Adrianne.

"I know how to shoot a gun," Adrianne retorted, turning around and continued her quest to the house, focusing hard to put as little weight on her left leg as possible. Inside the house, she went straight for the stairs and leaned on the railing of the stairs with both hands, pulling herself up with each step.

"What happened?" she heard Hershel's voice behind her and she looked down over the railing to see him standing beside the staircase.

"I fell off of Bullet," she answered breathlessly then focused on going up the stairs. She felt his stare on her back. "I'm fine. Just a bruise," she added. At that, he left her alone and she got to the top of the stairs, heading straight for her room. She walked straight ahead – toward her bed – and steadily sat down on it, bringing her legs onto the bed to lie down. Her left hip and elbow throbbed intensely; she threw her right arm over her eyes and tried to ignore the pain.

All she wanted was to fall asleep, but the aching wouldn't allow her to drift off. It reminded her of the time she broke her tibia in high school from a soccer game and she was forced to lay in bed all day.

Three soft knocks made Adrianne jump and remove her arm from her face - she looked over to see Beth standing in the doorway.

"Are you gonna come shootin' with us?" she asked in her usual soft voice. Adrianne grumbled in response and turned to cover her face again. "We're leavin' soon," Beth added. Adrianne ignored her.

After a few moments, Adrianne looked over at the door, seeing Beth had left without a sound; she slowly got up and limped out of her room and down the stairs. Since she couldn't sleep the pain off, she decided to get some fresh air and suck it up – as soon as she got out the door, however, Rick was walking up to the house; there were people getting into cars by their camp.

"There's a difference from knowing _how_ and bein' _able_ to shoot a target," Rick called, setting his hands on his hips but staying off of the porch.

"I can shoot a target," Adrianne replied with a loud, annoyed sigh while crossing her arms over her chest. She knew if she would be friendly with them the way she was when they first got here, she would grow to like them and they would never leave. She wouldn't mind going out to shoot a gun, but she couldn't trust that group and she wanted to protect her sons.

"Just come. Just to be sure," he pleaded.

Adrianne shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine," she finally said, shrugging and running her palm over her hair. "Let me get Nick and Will." Warily, she turned around – rolling her eyes a little – and whipped the screen door open, calling for her sons. She then closed the door again and waited for them to come outside.

"About what you said yesterday," Rick began unsteadily, and Adrianne glanced up at him from the white porch, "about us leavin'. . .I talked to Hershel."

"And?" she prompted, missing the point he was suddenly throwing at her.

"He might reconsider. But he also said he would like you to have a say in it," he explained, shifting nervously, like he was afraid she would say no. "Seeing as you're his right hand man." Adrianne shot him a confused look. "Sorry, _woman,_" Rick defended himself with a little amusement in his tone.

"Uh huh," she replied with the same confused look on her face as she slowly nodded. She wanted to say something more humorous, but she decided to stay serious.

"But you don't understand the danger of bein' out there," he argued desperately, his amusement turning into dead seriousness.

"Oh, I do, alright," she said with a sigh, wiping sweat from her temple with the back of her hand.

Finally, the boy's pushed their way out the door, demanding what Adrianne called them outside for. "C'mon, kiddos, I'm gonna teach you to shoot," she instructed, ushering them to walk alongside of her, and they exchanged surprised glances as they reached her side. She was thankful they came out at the time they did, since she didn't want to start a spat with the leader of the guests.

"We're gonna shoot? Like a gun?" Will exclaimed, looking up at her with giant, surprised eyes.

"Yup," Adrianne replied with a chuckle and held her hand on his upper back as she limped behind Rick. Adrianne and her sons got into the backseat of Patricia's pale green Hyundai, with Beth in the passenger seat and Jimmy squeezed in the back with them. Since there was hardly any space in the three-person back seat, Nick willingly sat on his mom's lap.

Patricia twisted the key in the ignition and the car's engine purred to life. After the tan Cherokee and a Dodge truck pulled out onto the gravel driveway in front of them, Patricia pressed on the gas and followed them down the road. They were driving slowly, since the range they set up was close enough that they didn't need to drive too far or too fast.

The car was dead silent the short drive there – the only thing they really heard was Nick and Will's restless squirming in the cramped car. The car made a high-pitched screeching sound as they came to a stop by an opening where they had the end of their property. The wooden fence had glass bottles set on top of each post.

Shane got out of the truck while Rick got out of the car before everyone else – Shane carried a black garbage bag that had barrels of rifles sticking out of the top. Adrianne pulled the handle of the door, pushed it open, then picked Nick up off of her lap and set him down on the ground. Jimmy and Will let themselves out from the other side and were already getting a gun from Rick and Shane. Adrianne reached down to hold onto Nick's hand as they walked up to the two men, who were each holding out a gun; Shane handed his to Nick while Rick handed his to Adrianne.

"I have my own," Adrianne said while holding up her hand to each of the men. Shane gave her a confused look as she continued walking and went to stand next to Beth and Will. She let go of Nick's hand and pulled out the Derringer from the back of her jeans, kneeling down next to her son. "Here," she said as she pressed down the hammer of the gun – Nick hesitantly grabbed hold of the handle. "This isn't a toy. You only use it when you want to kill somethin', and you better make sure you're shootin' for a damn good reason." She instructed him. He nodded along understandingly occasionally looking up at her to ensure her that he was listening.

"Is it gonna hurt?" he asked worriedly, his nervousness beginning to show on his face. Will made a teasing sound beside them.

"No, kiddo," Adrianne chuckled then ensured, "I'll help you." She extended his arm for him, instructing him to never lock his elbows, and took a giant step so she was crouching behind him, keeping her head above his shoulder so she could see. Her hands held his forearms firmly so he would still shoot by himself, but wouldn't get shocked by the kick.

"Will, do you need help?" Adrianne turned to her right to ask her eldest son.

"No, Mom. I got it," he answered confidently.

"No help at all?" Adrianne prompted, raising her eyebrows as a grin splayed across her face.

"No, Mother. I know what to do," he responded sassily, staring down the sights of the Glock that was given to him.

"Hey," Adrianne chastised, all amusement disappearing in her tone and face. "Don't get snippy with me," she threatened.

"Sorry," Will apologized in a small voice.

"Range is hot!" Shane called, and shots rang out, but none of the shots came from the Derringer.

"Nick, you can shoot now," Adrianne encouraged, her thighs beginning to burn from crouching behind him for so long.

"I'm scared," he whined, not moving at all.

"Just look down the sights here," Adrianne pointed at the sights on the gun, instructing him how to aim, then went back to her position behind him. "Now just squeeze the trigger." Nick didn't do anything; by now, even Will had taken a few shots. "Nicholas!" Adrianne exclaimed, getting impatient with him.

"I can't do it!" he argued.

"Shoot the damn gun, Nick!" Adrianne snapped loudly, attracting attention from everyone else.

It only took a half a second for Nick to finally squeeze the trigger – the gun snapped back, Adrianne's grip cushioning the kick. They each exchanged prideful looks, Nick's face splitting in a wide grin – Adrianne laughed at how proud he was of himself.

"Now try it without my help. Don't you let go, and keep one foot in front of the other," she instructed as she straightened up and started walking away to stand next to Will, who moved to the other side of Beth. Obviously, Will was being too lazy to set another target up, and just moved the Beth's other side to shot that target.

"You always yell at your kids like that?" Rick asked, slowly walking up to her side – when she looked back, he had a hunting rifle in his hands.

"They'll probably hate me when they get older, but at least I tried to turn them into good people," she responded, watching Will shoot at his target.

"By yellin' at 'em to shoot a gun before they're ready?" he demanded.

"By makin' 'em brave," she answered pointedly.

"Is that the only gun you got?" Shane asked as he appeared to Rick's other side, studying the gun in Nick's hands.

"It's the only one small enough to sneak into the house," she answered, glancing between the two of them.

Shane was holding a Beretta in his hand, and after Adrianne answered his question, he held the gun out for her to take. "This has more rounds. A two-shooter won't get you far," he advised, and she wrapped her fingers around the barrel of the gun and tugged it out of his grasp.

Adrianne turned to the fence, raising the gun toward the green glass bottle that was propped up twenty feet away and fired once she had it aimed – the bottle burst into tiny green shards and fell down to the grass. She glanced back at them, who exchanged surprised expressions.

"Can you hit a moving target?" Rick inquired.

"Yup," she answered, stifling a yawn. After telling Beth and Will to stop shooting – even though they were ten feet on either side of her – she jogged forward to get a glass bottle from the bottom of the fence post and walked back, signaling for the two kids to begin firing again once she was out of the line of fire. "Here, throw it," she said, jabbing the bottle in the air in front of the men, waiting for either of them to take it from her.

Rick took it and stepped up next to Adrianne, throwing it up in the air. Immediately, Adrianne raised the gun into the air and fired, taking only a split second to aim, the glass bottle raining shards down at a safe distance from all the others.

"I told you I know how to shoot," she said with confidence and they were completely silent, exchanging impressed glances. After they left, she walked back over to Nick, checking on him.

"I got it!" he exclaimed, the smile on his face reaching his eyes.

"Good job, Nick!" she praised, kneeling next to him. "Show me," she urged.

"Adrianne, c'mere," someone called, and she sighed heavily. Setting her hand on her knee, she pushed herself to her feet and warily flickered her eyes in the direction the voice had come from before following it.

"Hey. Maybe you should meet everyone," Rick suggested when she nearly walked past him. "This is T-Dog," he continued, nodding his head at the black guy once Adrianne turned her attention to them. She smiled at him warmly as she held out her hand, which he shook politely. Rick looked at the blonde girl next. "This is Andrea," he introduced, and Adrianne shook the hand of a woman who was wearing a straw cowboy hat. "And I'll introduce you to everyone else when we get back," he added after the women said their hello's and enchanté's.

"Let's head back, guys," Rick's southern voice called after Adrianne began to walk back to Nick. She remembered the gun in her hand and glanced back at Rick while holding up the Beretta.

"I can keep this, right?" Adrianne asked, holding up the gun.

"Sure, it's no problem," he answered, shrugging. She nodded and continued to make her way towards her sons.

She didn't even notice that almost everyone else left by the time she got Will to stop shooting his gun and hand it over to her. The only car that was left was a truck that Patricia, Beth and Jimmy were waiting in. Rick and Shane were waiting to get Will's gun, and after Adrianne apologized for him, they jumped into the bed of the truck for the ride back.

* * *

When they were getting back, Maggie was leaving with the Asian boy on horses – Adrianne raised her hand to wave at Maggie, but she didn't wave back. Adrianne brushed it off and stood up in the bed of the truck, waiting for it to slow down so she could jump out. She saw the Cherokee in front of Rick's camp – by the looks of the camp, she came to the conclusion that they got back way before Adrianne did.

"Adrianne," Rick called, bringing the familiar old man with him. "This is Dale," Rick introduced as she shook the old man's hand. "The guy that just left was Glenn," he added.

"So," Adrianne prompted, trying to start a conversation between the three of them. "What did you do before all this?"

"I was a Sheriff's Deputy. Got shot, fell into a coma and missed the beginning of the apocalypse," he stated.

"Lucky you," she replied, crossing her arms across her chest. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Seriously," she clarified, since she realized she sounded a little sarcastic.

"You were at the CDC?" Dale changed the subject. "What happened there?"

"Uh, yeah," she began, itching her nose. "The military flew in, dropped bombs and killed everyone on sight. Protected the CDC at all costs. When someone tried to get in there for safety, it was shoot to kill," she explained.

"It's gone now," Rick stated.

She nodded her head in response, rubbing her cheek. "I know," she responded quietly, "we knew we wouldn't be able to find a cure. Couldn't even find the pathogen before half the population was wiped out."

Rick hung his head and Dale shook his head slowly.

"Well," Adrianne sighed after shifting her weight onto both feet, "talk about a buzz kill," she chuckled.

"Yeah," Dale agreed.

"Uh, see you guys later," she said and walked back to the house. Just talking about the CDC would ruin anyone's mood, including Hershel's, who was the most optimistic of everyone she knew.

She finally got into the house and plopped down onto the couch with exhaustion. The couch was unusually comfortable – she rested her head on the armrest and stared up at the ceiling, finally getting some rest.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry for the long wait!**

**Thanks to those who reviewed/favorited/followed! Let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	5. Twenty Questions

**Chapter Five: Twenty Questions**

* * *

Adrianne limped through the dining room, her hip suddenly bothering her again – she followed sounds from the kitchen, assuming Hershel was there.

"Hershel?" she asked as she leaned onto the doorframe, folding her arms over her chest.

"Yes, they know," he immediately answered, his back turned towards her – he looked to be filling some quart sized mason jars with the stewed tomatoes Adrianne made earlier. She had made enough to fill the five-gallon steal pot to the top, and was planning on giving some to Rick's group as a friendly hostess gesture.

"How'd you know what I was gonna ask?" she questioned, shrugging as a quizzical look distorted her face. She was actually going to tell him about her decision to have Rick's group leave after they found the girl they were searching for.

"I was just assuming you were askin' 'bout them knowin' 'bout the barn," he responded, not turning to face her.

"Oh. Well no, but how?" she asked, her confusion fading as she tucked a piece of stray hair from her ponytail behind her ear.

"Maggie and the Asian boy, Glenn," he began, sounding hesitant to say it out loud. Adrianne snorted but quickly bolted her hand over her mouth when she realized her mistake, innocently looking back at Hershel as he glared at her. She mumbled her apology and pushed her hands into her pockets.

"I think they should leave," she suggested, changing the subject as Hershel turned around with an agreeing look on his face, but he also looked pretty conflicted.

"They're lookin' for a girl that got lost. We can't kick them outta here before they find her," he argued, and Adrianne came to the conclusion that he had a good point.

"Yeah, but what if they find out 'bout me?" she demanded, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head forward, staring at Hershel with wide eyes.

"If they don't see you, they won't know," he stated a little too optimistically.

The screen door creaked open; Adrianne leaned back a little to look through the living room to see Maggie storming inside, heading up the stairs in a rush.

"Maggie," Adrianne called, but Maggie just ignored her, continuing her rampage up the stairs, her features tight with anger.

"Leave her be," Hershel warned when Adrianne pushed herself off the wall and started to go after Maggie. She listened to him – though not planning on leaving Maggie alone – and walked outside onto the porch in attempt to figure out what upset her cousin. Lori and Rick were by the table, their movements jagged in accusation as Rick spread out guns onto the table.

Nothing out there was to Adrianne's interest - except for the fact that Rick and Lori were fighting - so she strolled back into the house, sneakily tiptoeing her way across the wooden floor, peeking out into the kitchen so Hershel wouldn't hear her.

"Maggie?" she softly called from the hallway. Slowly, she walked down to the end of the hallway and knocked on Maggie's door, then, after hearing nothing in response, let herself in. Adrianne walked to the opposite side of the room towards the bed Maggie laid on and sat down on the edge, then reached to squeeze her hand.

"You were right," Maggie said, her voice muffled. A swift look of confusion flashed onto Adrianne's face.

"What?" Adrianne asked, and a small chuckle snuck its way into her voice.

"Those things. They're not people," she responded, pushing herself up and moving to sit on the edge of the bed next to Adrianne - Maggie hung her head as she stared blankly at the floor.

"When was I ever wrong?" Adrianne mused cockily, trying to lighten the mood, and Maggie stifled a smile.

"You have to talk to Dad," she said, looking over at Adrianne with her bright blue eyes. "Talk some sense into him."

"Maggie, your dad's convinced they're still alive. Nothin' I'll say will change his mind," she argued as Maggie looked down at her entangled fingers. "Believe me, I've tried."

"Lori's pregnant," Maggie randomly blurt out, taking Adrianne aback. "You can't make 'em leave," she added, glancing back up at her.

"Don't you remember what happened before when we let strangers stay here?" Adrianne demanded, raising her voice a little too much and forgetting about what Maggie had just told her about Lori.

"Yeah, but they're not like those people, Adrianne!" Maggie exclaimed, her face hardening with anger.

"'Those people' weren't like that when they first came here, either!" Adrianne shot back, getting angry with her younger cousin. Maggie fell silent and dropped her gaze to her entangled fingers in her lap. "Listen, Maggie," Adrianne began after she swallowed hard, "they already know 'bout the barn. What do you think they would do when they found out the things _I _am doing?"

"They don't know 'bout the barn, it's just Glenn and Dale," she argued, tucking a strand of dark hair back behind her ear.

"And how long will it take until they _all _know?" Adrianne retorted, refusing to give up.

"They can keep a secret," Maggie simply said, "trust me."

Adrianne sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, searching for a rebuttal in her mind. "Why do you think Shane came back with Otis's rifle?" she blurted out before thinking about the problems this question would raise. Adrianne glanced at Maggie for her reaction.

"What?" Maggie demanded, staring back at Adrianne in confusion, her eyebrows stitching together.

"Just think 'bout it," Adrianne said as she got to her feet, rubbing her face with both of her hands and walking out of Maggie's room before she could say anything else. She twisted the door knob behind her and quietly shut the door before making her way down the hallway and stepping down the stairs.

Patricia was in the kitchen when Adrianne made her way in; she was busy unloading fresh jerky from the dehydrator and threw each piece in to a bushel basket on the counter next to her.

"Hey," Adrianne greeted as she met Patricia's side and grabbed the next white rack of meat,bringingit over to the opposite side of the basket to begin tossing the small pieces of meat in to it.

"This's for Rick's group," Patricia bluntly said just as Adrianne was about to bring one of the pieces of jerky to her mouth.

"Oh," Adrianne said and instead threw the jerky into the basket while pulling a bitchy face at Patricia, who wasn't even looking. "I made stewed tomatoes for them, though."

"I know. Hershel said to give 'em some protein, too," Patricia responded, her voice flat. Adrianne could tell she still was in a dark place she fell into after her husband died – the same place Adrianne was in for weeks after Adam passed. Adrianne pursed her lips as she turned and walked to the other side of the kitchen, picking up two jars of stewed tomatoes, and brought them to set them down in the basket. After she loaded the basket with one jar for each person in their group, she waited for Patricia to unload the last rack.

"You need anything?" Adrianne asked, leaning into her palm that was set on the edge of the counter, eyeing Patricia as she slowly moved around to put the empty racks in the sink.

"I'm fine," Patricia answered with a huff, wiping her brow with the three-quarter length sleeve of her blouse.

Adrianne's gaze dropped to the floor. "Just tell me if you need anything," she replied, curling her index finger around one of the wire handles and bringing the basket to her.

"Thanks," Patricia thanked quietly, avoiding eye contact with Adrianne. Adrianne pursed her lips and nodded in understanding, turning to pick up the basket.

She took the abnormally light basket – seeing as it was stacked to the top – through the living room, opening the screen door by turning the handle her foot. Adrianne stumbled out onto the porch, letting the door slam closed behind her, and trudged across the lawn, walking towards the guests, who were hard at work. Glenn – who was innocently chopping wood for his own group – caught her eye as she continued her walk to the picnic table. He looked nervous; his eyes quickly darted to the others in his group then back to Adrianne, and in response she quirked an eyebrow at him with a small glare, hopefully warning him with that look to keep his mouth shut. She tore her eyes away from the scared looking man and approached the picnic table to set the basket down gently.

"I brought you guys some food," she announced, fishing into the basket to get two jars of stewed tomatoes and a large handful of jerky. Once she looked up, she saw the group cautiously stepping toward her, like they were scared to take the food she just offered them.

Andrea showed no shame as she quickly strolled to the table first, letting the others know that it was safe. Andrea smiled wide as she got her share of food. "Mm, this looks good," she said as her bright eyes met Adrianne's.

"Oh, believe me," Adrianne snorted in amusement, "it's the best."

"I have to admit though, I never was a huge tomato fan," Andrea replied as she moved off to the side to allow the others to get some food.

"Me neither. If it looks like it was a tomato, I won't eat it," Adrianne laughed. "As long as they're stewed tomatoes or salsa, I'll eat it."

"Well I guess you can't really tell it was a tomato," Andrea mused, taking a bite of the jerky in her hand.

"That's good enough for me," Adrianne responded with a smile and began walking away from the group with the two jars and jerky balanced in her grasp.

As she walked away, Shane was making his way to the rest of the group. Adrianne shot him a glare when he looked at her, causing him to furrow his eyebrows and slow down.

"You got a problem?" he called after her.

"Yep," Adrianne called back, not looking behind her as she continued on. She then muttered under her breath, "you and I both." She continued across their camp to reach Lori's tent. "Knock knock," Adrianne said as she got up to Lori's tent.

"C'mon in," she heard Lori's voice, which sounded rushed and shaky; Adrianne brushed the unzipped flap away from the opening and ducked inside. Lori frantically wiped her nose with the back of her hand and blinked back tears, bringing her tank top up to her face to wipe her tear-stained cheeks.

"Hey. I, uh, brought you some food," she stammered in embarrassment, and set the foot down on the little table they had set up. People who are crying made her uncomfortable – most of the time she seemed like a dick because she wanted to leave them alone since she sucked at comforting people.

"No it's fine, you can have it," she insisted in a hoarse voice.

"I just ate," Adrianne lied, pushing the food in front of Lori innocently. "I know you're hungrier than everyone else." Lori's eyes darted to Adrianne as Adrianne glanced down at the table, seeing two light blue boxes that read 'Morning After Pill' in white block letters. Her eyes flicked back up to Lori's, eyebrows raising in disbelief. Lori said nothing, just hung her head; Adrianne scoffed as she pulled a disgusted face and bolted out of the tent.

"Adrianne?" a male voice came from behind her. She slowly turned around and pushed her bangs out of her face, only for them to flop back onto her forehead as she saw Dale making his way over to her.

"Hey Dale," Adrianne responded letting out a sigh and setting her hands on her hips. "What's up?"

"I know you know about Shane. So I'm just gonna warn you now," he began, his voice low, "Shane is a dangerous man, and I think you should keep your distance from him . . . don't start anything."

"You're tellin' me that I should be afraid of a live man? If anything I thought you woulda told me to be careful in the woods," she snorted, her eyes bright with amusement. A puzzled look crossed Dale's face.

"I'm serious. He's dangerous," he said after a small pause.

"Dale, I ain't worried 'bout it. You shouldn't be neither," Adrianne sighed, wiped her brow of the sweat that gathered.

She reached the house and stepped inside, closing the screen door behind her – as soon as she stepped into the house she heard Rick arguing with Hershel to allow them to stay. Adrianne steered clear of the kitchen and instead went upstairs to check on Daryl.

As she reached the door, she knocked three times and opened the door, seeing Daryl laying on his side with the sheet pulled up and his back facing her.

"Hey," she greeted when he didn't turn around. "How's your head?"

"'Bout as good as yours," Daryl responded pointedly.

"Well, mine's fine physically but mentally," she began with a chuckle, then added, "you're insulting yourself."

Daryl rolled onto his back, lacing his fingers behind his head. "You look familiar," he randomly said, completely changing the subject.

"Do I?" Adrianne asked.

"Weren't you the girl that was always on TV when a disease broke out?" he asked, studying her face. Adrianne shifted and swallowed hard.

"Yeah," she answered roughly, remembering how much she hated news conferences, especially when people would ask her stupid questions she didn't know the answer to, making herself look like a fool.

"My brother always made sick jokes 'bout you whenever you were on," he stated, moving his stare to the ceiling. Adrianne stifled a look of disgust on her face as she nodded slightly.

"Well, Daryl," Adrianne began, shaking off his comment, "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're lonely." Her voice was mocking, and Daryl shook his head.

"You remind me of my brother," he said in a fading voice.

"Okay, well, I'm glad," Adrianne chuckled sarcastically.

"Where's your husband?" he asked, making Adrianne flinch at the sudden question.

"How'd you know I was married?" she demanded.

"Merle was always commentin' about the ring on your hand," he explained and Adrianne brought her hand up to look at the diamond ring on her ring finger. It was pure silver with three diamonds flanking each side of a big diamond set in the middle.

"He's gone," she answered with a loud sniff. Adrianne became uncomfortable and told Daryl he would be back on his feet by tomorrow, then left the room in a hurry, going into her own bedroom.

In her closet, she picked up a strap of a backpack and slung it onto her shoulder, then hurried to her nightstand, opened the top drawer and grabbed the Beretta. She pushed the button to release the magazine, checked to see if it was loaded, then put the magazine back in, pulling back the chamber to get a bullet into it. Tucking the gun in the back of her pants, she walked out of her room and made her way outside.

"I'm headin' out," Adrianne announced to Maggie, who was grooming her horse when she entered the stables.

"I'll come with you," Maggie immediately said, her voice immediately sounding pushy.

"Alright," Adrianne agreed with a short nod, then moved to the stall Bullet was in. "Hey buddy," she crooned as she stroked his cheek, kissing his head right between his eyes.

"Wow, I was bracin' for an argument," Maggie laughed, attracting Adrianne's attention to her, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I like goin' on runs with you," Adrianne began as she padded Bullet's cheek and strolled to the perch that held his saddle. "We're like, partners."

"Well, howdy doo, Pardner," Maggie teased, talking in an old western accent. Adrianne laughed just as she raised the saddle up to set it on Bullet's back, which almost made her drop it, but instead it just fell into place and scared the horse.

Once Adrianne heaved herself onto Silver Bullet, she guided him out of the stall and waited for Maggie, who was taking Nelly.

"Alright," Maggie called once she got onto Nelly, "let's go."

They walked side by side, guiding their horses along the gravel driveway that led out of the fence. As they passed Rick's working group, T-Dog waved friendlily – they both returned the gesture.

"See?" Maggie persisted under her breath to Adrianne, "they're not bad people," she continued, darting an accusing glare at Adrianne.

"Maggie," Adrianne sighed, exasperated, then hesitated. "_T-Dog _is not a bad person. It's the _others _I'm worried 'bout."

"Jus' give 'em a chance," Maggie pressed as they finally reached the paved road.

"Is this 'bout Glenn?" Adrianne chuckled. "You found yourself a fuck-buddy, didn't you?"

"No!" Maggie exclaimed, her voice showing how mortified she was. Adrianne laughed harder and glanced at her, seeing her face a bright cherry-red; once their horses were close enough, Adrianne reached over and playfully pushed her. "At least I wasn't pregnant when I was eighteen," Maggie mumbled, trying to make Adrianne embarrassed.

"Hey," Adrianne said, "I didn't sleep with Adam just 'cause I was lonely!" she added, shooting a glare at Maggie, who had a wide grin on her face.

"I didn't tell you that so you can make fun o'me!" Maggie retorted, that grin not fading one bit. Adrianne shook her head in amusement and looked out in front of her.

"Maggie and Glenn sittin' in a tree," Adrianne jeered childishly, "K-I-S – Oh wait! It should be F-U-C-K-I-N-G!"

"Shut up, Adrianne!" Maggie hissed, giving Adrianne a not-so-playful shove, taking her off guard and making her flail a little as she fell to the side of the horse; Bullet suddenly bolted forward as a result, and Adrianne struggled to get back up on the saddle all the way. After numerous tugs and yelling at Bullet, he finally slowed down to a steady walk once again.

"I should kick your ass for that," Adrianne snapped once Maggie caught up to her – Maggie was laughing hysterically, leaning forward when she laughed harder.

"Yeah, but you won't," Maggie laughed, her eyes red as they overflowed with joyful tears.

"I hate you," Adrianne chuckled, not able to contain her laughter. After they finally stopped laughing, they stayed silent for a long time before Maggie spoke up.

"This's kinda a random question, but," she paused, waiting for Adrianne to look at her, "what would your dad've done if he found out you were pregnant 'fore you were married?"

"Uh," Adrianne began in a small voice, not really knowing the answer. Maggie and Hershel did a good job on keeping that quiet for her until she and Adam married, so Adrianne never thought about what her father would've done. "Either would've beaten me or dragged my ass to an abortion clinic. Depends on how drunk he was," she said. They were silent once again while Maggie took in Adrianne's answer.

They reached the other side of the countryside that Hershel lived on, which was completely empty and silent except for the sound of the horses' hooves clicking against the pavement.

"Are you goin' to your house?" Maggie demanded, sounding completely surprised when she recognized the road they were on.

"Yep," Adrianne answered with a sigh and ran her hand through her ponytail.

"For what?"

"Stuff." Adrianne replied simply. "He–yah!" Adrianne cried, flicking the reins, making Bullet bolt forward into a brisk run – Maggie did the same. A big white farm house came into view, similar to Hershel's except it was a little smaller and the land was flatter. The grass was waist high; Adrianne couldn't see the paved driveway until she nearly passed it.

Adrianne slid off Silver Bullet once they reached the porch and tied him to the post, then waited for Maggie to catch up. Once Maggie was at her side, she pulled out the gun from the back of her jeans, holding it with one hand on the handle, one hand on the bottom. _Be ready to fire,_ Adam's voice reverberated through her mind, _don't be caught with your gun down. It gives the enemy a huge advantage._

Adrianne let go of the gun with one hand to quietly twist the doorknob and steadily pushed it open. She stepped inside the house, her eyes darting around for any sort of movement. A rotten stench suddenly filled her nose, making her unable to contain a loud gag; she brought forearm up to her nose to try and filter the smell, but it was too strong. Adrianne turned around the see Maggie doing the exact same thing.

Adrianne steadily stepped to her left, leaving the foyer and entering the living room. The white walls were spotted with dried blood that also stained the white carpet. Flies swarmed around a family of decomposing corpses that laid on the floor, each with a bullet hole in their heads. Shells from bullets littered the floor; Adrianne kneeled down to pick one up, then recognized that it was from an M16. The same gun the military used. They had come into this house thinking Adrianne was still there, but had massacred a different family that had taken shelter there instead.

"Adrianne," Maggie softly called. "We need to get outta here."

Adrianne got to her feet and dropped the shell to the floor. She sped out of the living room, her gun up, and eased up the staircase that was in the foyer, not daring to take a look through the rest of the house.

The upstairs was untouched, no sign of any life and the odor wasn't as strong. She leaped into the bedroom, her back facing the left-side wall, and pointed the gun into the empty atmosphere. Once she felt safe, she tucked the gun into the back of her jeans and moved to the closet on the far wall - the wooden floor creaked ominously as she walked.

Her hand gripped the closet handle and swung it open, then she sat down in front of a small, grey safe and fumbled with the dial. _Thirteen, forty–seven, eight,_ she said in her head before yanking the handle. The safe popped open, and she swung the backpack off of her back and loaded it with the three guns that were inside, along with the stacks of ammo boxes.

"There was a bunch of medical supplies in the bathroom," Maggie's voice suddenly said, causing Adrianne to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Dammit, Maggie, keep it down," Adrianne hissed quietly through her teeth.

"Sorry," Maggie apologized and made her way to Adrianne to take her backpack into the upstairs bathroom. Adrianne shook her head and glanced at the nightstand next to the bed that still had its navy blue comforter neatly in place. She pulled open the top drawer and looked inside, seeing a black leather bi-fold wallet – Adrianne picked it up, then slowly opened it.

_Adam Byrne, FBI_. She stared at the picture of her husband on the ID above the shiny gold badge. Slowly, Adrianne sank down onto the bed, continuing to stare blankly at the badge. Footsteps made their way into Adrianne's bedroom.

"You came here just to get Adam's badge?" Maggie demanded after she set the backpack on the bed next to Adrianne.

"No," Adrianne said with a scratchy throat, then shoved the wallet into the backpack and looked up at Maggie, who was staring at her accusingly. "I got the guns, too," she added and stood up to bring the straps of the bag onto her shoulders.

* * *

"Mom, how did Dad die?" Nick questioned, sitting cross legged on Adrianne's bed directly in front of her. Adrianne lowered her book to make eye contact for a brief moment.

"When we went on a run," she answered before turning back to the book. Nick shifted.

"Maggie said that you guys ran before you knew for sure that he was dead, though," he argued.

Adrianne, frustrated, clicked her tongue and picked up her bookmark from her chest to stick it into the book, then set the book on the nightstand. "Nicholas, he's gone. I know you don't wanna accept it, and neither do I, but . . . he's gone," she stated harshly, pulling off her glasses and setting them on top of the book on the nightstand.

"Will told me that he doesn't like you," Nick replied in a small voice.

Adrianne's sighed and hung her head. "I know," she croaked, pinching the bridge of her nose. Lately, he's beginning to be normal with her again – like he was forgiving her – but ever since she came home from the run without his dad, he could be extremely vile towards her. She knew he didn't have much respect for her even when his father was still alive; because of that, she thought she was a bad mother and would lose self-respect, resulting in her depression before she had Nick.

"Adrianne?" Patricia asked as she knocked on the slightly ajar door.

"What's up?" she asked, her gaze jerking up to the woman as she threw her legs over the side of the bed to get to her feet.

"C'mere. We found a dead one by the creek," Patricia explained flatly and began walking away, expecting Adrianne to follow.

"Nick, I'll be back later, go help Uncle Hershel in the garden, okay?" she instructed Nick.

"What am I supposed to do?" he questioned as he slid off the bed.

"Do whatever Hershel tells you to, I gotta go," Adrianne said before she sped off to find Patricia. Once she exited the house through the backdoor, Adrianne broke into a jog to catch up to Patricia, who was already halfway to the storm cellar. "Has it been dead for a long time?" she questioned once she caught up to the woman, matching her pace.

"Maggie found it in the creek this morning. She said it wasn't back there yesterday. It was stabbed in the eye, but I think that'll be alright, right?" she briefed, glancing over at Adrianne.

"Yeah, that's fine," Adrianne answered as they quickly walked to the storm cellar. Patricia worked the combination and yanked the lock that held the doors shut, then lifted the big wooden door for Adrianne to slip inside and snapped the lock closed after she got in after.

Adrianne saw the dead person lying on the metal experimentation table behind the Plexiglas wall. She remembered when this shit first went down, Adam went out to buy sheets of Plexiglas for this. Behind the see-through wall, it was illuminated with bright fluorescent shop lights; Hershel told them the only reason he kept the generators running was because of this. This was all Hershel's idea. He told Adrianne to steal supplies from the CDC – which was a huge chance he made her take – and he was practically forcing her to do this, no matter how much she didn't want to.

The last one she had experimented on basically had no flesh left on its body, and all of the tests she ran required one-inch-wide strip samples. Before she knew it, she was out of every sample she had, and she couldn't convince Hershel to let her use one of the ones in the barn.

Finally, after a few weeks, they found a dead one that she could use; it was about time. She was getting so close to having done all the tests the CDC got, but she wasn't even close to getting any sort of vaccine since she was only one person and she wasn't as smart as everyone else at her job.

The room was quiet except for the humming sound the lights made whenever they were on. Tables were set along the three walls with a gray metal freezer sitting on the one next to sink and a three–drawer container. The drawers were labeled untested, viable, and unviable.

Beneath the table was a brown, handmade cabinet that was light colored and made of Georgia's state tree: the live oak. Inside, there were various surgical supplies including surgeon masks, latex and vinyl gloves, syringes, scalpels and Petri dishes. Each and every tool in there was individually wrapped, the only way to keep them sterile – that didn't really matter since she wasn't able to use them in a sterile environment anyway, like the CDC. She wasn't even able to get her hands on a hazmat suit before they sent her home.

On the table to the left, there was a microscope, along with a series of slides that had samples from the previous experiments.

Adrianne opened the cabinet and brought out some surgical tools, a handful of pipettes, gloves and a mask. She tore open the thin plastic wrapping of the mask and set each strap over her ears. Once she had on the gloves, she opened the freezer, pulling out a Petri dish that had fresh, unused gel in it.

The quiet made her mind wander, and soon she was thinking about the group camping in their front yard. That decision was still weighing on her shoulders. She kept going back and forth; she wished Hershel would just make the decision for her, but of course his democratic ways are forcing her to make up her mind.

She set the Petri dish down on the table next to the microscope and picked up a syringe from the tools she had brought out. She stabbed it into the test subject's body and slowly pulled back the plunger, watching the blackened blood fill it to the one millimeter mark. With her index finger and thumb, she pinched the flesh around the needle and steadily pulled it out. In one step, she moved to the table that held the Petri dish she had just pulled out of the freezer. The gel had already softened from the Georgian heat, which was even greater down in the enclosed cellar.

_I can't send them back out there. It's sadistic,_ Adrianne thought to herself just as she was about to stab the gel. Her raging thoughts caused her to become distracted; she pushed the back of the plunger before the needle was anywhere near the gel, the infected blood spilling out of the syringe and all over the counter.

"Shit," She hissed to herself as she quickly searched for a rag after she dropped the syringe. She snatched a bottle of rubbing alcohol after she found a rag and wiped the blood off the counter, then cleaned it with the alcohol. After cursing at herself, she moved back to the table to try again.

After she was done, she covered the dish and flipped it over, picking up a sharpie that was sitting next to the microscope, and drew a dashed line down the middle, separating the infected part with the healthy part. On the cover, she wrote 'Test Subject #37'. She set it down and walked back to the body. Shane's face suddenly flooded her thoughts, taking her back to square one. He was a bad person, and she didn't want her sons to grow up with his influence.

She shook her head and picked up a scalpel to carefully slice the stomach down the middle, her index finger pushing against the back of the scalpel for even pressure. She set down the scalpel and picked up a clamp, pulling the side of the cut away from the internal organs. With another clamp, she pulled back the other side, leaving the clamp on the flesh to keep it weighted. The scent was almost immediately released, and Adrianne quickly reached for the safety glasses she forgot to put on.

She took samples of each organ after she sawed the ribs and wedged them open with the retractor, setting each slice on a new fresh slide, labeling each one. Picking up a sample of the heart, she reached for a bottle of a high concentration of hydrochloric acid to see how the tissue would react. If it didn't take a long time to dissolve, it meant the tissue had weakened before the subject died of the disease.

Adrianne untwisted the cap of the small bottle and stuck a pipette into it, drawing the liquid into it. _What about Carl? _A voice suddenly asked in her head, _he was just shot and you want him out? You are one sick bastard._ Carl's almost lifeless body lying on the bed in the bedroom flashed into her mind, making Adrianne go back to letting them stay.

Her hand burned. Badly. She snapped out of her reverie to see acid from the pipette dripping down into her fingers that was still holding onto the bottle. Without thinking, she jumped, spilling the rest of the acid onto her clothes and her bare neck.

"Fucking hell!" She screamed as she bolted around the cellar, raiding the cabinets and pushing everything out in search of baking soda. Finally, she found the box and poured it onto her neck and hand just as she began to smell the fumes her dissolving flesh was giving off. She sank down onto the dirt floor, chucking the now empty box of baking soda across the room in anger. She sat there for a moment before slowly getting to her feet and stepped back to the slide that had the heart sample on it and set it off to the side.

"I give up," she said out loud, then whipped open the Plexiglas door and stalked out. Her racing mind prevented her from being able to work – especially since the work she had to do was very difficult.

Opening the wooden door slightly, she peeked out, scanning the outside and hoping that none of Rick's group had seen her go in there, nor come out a few hours later. She had no idea what they would do if they found out she was conducting experiments like a mad scientist. They already knew about the barn – they already think they're _crazy, _so when they find out about Adrianne, they might kill them all and take over their farm.

Seeing no one around, she heaved the door open and stepped out, locking the door behind her. The land began to get a yellow tint from the sinking sun as she walked to the front yard. Adrianne gazed straight ahead, her eyes falling on Rick, who was storming down the gravel and holding something small in his hand. She ignored him, and continued strolling up to the porch, glancing back to see his bobbing head gradually disappear behind a hill. _They can't be _that _bad, _the voice said in Adrianne's head. _Just give them a shot._

In the living room, Adrianne pulled off her boots and socks, setting the boots by the door and the socks in the laundry hamper that was next to the door.

"What the _hell _happened to you?" Patricia exclaimed after coming to a dead halt from coming in from the kitchen.

"Nothing," Adrianne growled sarcastically, "just spilled acid all over myself."

She sat down on the couch, reaching down to massage her feet, paying attention to her ankles that were suddenly bothering her.

"Are they still bothering you?" Patricia asked, dropping the previous subject; she knew when to stop talking about something, especially if Adrianne sounded pissed. She glanced up at Patricia, who was standing in the doorway to the dining room.

"Tendinitis doesn't go away for a long time, Patricia," she answered, focusing back to her puffy, reddening ankles.

"It's from all those years in soccer," Patricia responded, sounding disapproving.

"Hockey, lacrosse, and track, too. It wasn't just soccer," Adrianne sighed, turning back to what she was doing.

"Yeah, and your dedication to sports ruined your body," retorted an impatient Patricia, who suddenly felt like she was her mother.

"It didn't ruin my body! My body is healthier than the stereotypical American, thank you very much," Adrianne said jokingly, getting over her anger quickly. Patricia couldn't help but chuckle along with Adrianne.

Hershel appeared from the kitchen, wiping his hands with an off–white towel. "You gettin' close?" he asked Adrianne pointedly.

Adrianne stood up from the chair and rested her hands on her hips. "Closer than yesterday," she optimized.

"What the—" Hershel started.

"Acid. Spilled. On self," Adrianne explained. Hershel nodded in understanding, then his eyes dropped to the wooden floor, a look of disappointment painting his features. "Look, Hershel, I'm tryin' as hard as I can," Adrianne began, shifting her weight on one leg, "but you don't understand how difficult it is to do these tests. They take a long time to do, and they're definitely not safe to be doin' without a proper suit. I have to handle these chemicals very carefully, and _clearly,_" she gestured along her baking soda drench body, "I'm not careful."

Hershel glanced up at her from the floor.

"Are you searching for a vaccine or a cure?" he demanded, his voice hardening as he began to look angry with her. Adrianne's eyebrows furrowed upward in sorrow; she let out a rush of air as she forced a smile and bit her bottom lip.

"It's close to impossible to cure a decomposin' body that only knows how to walk around and eat everythin' in sight. They're dead, and they're not comin' back, no matter how hard you want me to try," she explained in a shaky voice, trying to soften the verbal blow with nicer words. Her plan wasn't effective.

"Adrianne, what kind of person are you? To think that those people can't be fixed? They're sick, and you can fix them!" Hershel yelled sternly, gesturing along with his words.

"No, they're not sick, Hershel!" Adrianne raised her voice in retort, "they were sick when they were still alive! The disease killed them and made their brainstem regenerate! It's not the same as a human being! They're_dead_!" she argued, yelling the last sentence through gritted teeth. Hershel rubbed his jaw and turned on his heel, exiting the room in anger.

Patricia did nothing but give Adrianne a tight lipped smile as Adrianne tucked her hair behind her ear and walked up the stairs.

"Mom?" called Nick, his voice sounding like it was coming from his room. Adrianne came to a halt in the doorway of her bedroom, her hand on the entryway, and peeked out towards his room, seeing him come out of the doorway.

"What's up?" she asked, watching Nick walk up to her.

"You don't mind me and Carl bein' friends, do you?" he questioned passively. Adrianne smiled, but couldn't think of anything to say in response.

"Even though you had poor grammar, I'll answer anyway," she began, trying to give him a hard time. She paused for a long moment to think, then finally answered, "No, son. I don't mind," She finally made her decision to let Rick's group have a second chance. Her decision was made as soon as Nick asked her that question. She wanted Nick to be happy – she didn't want to lose him along with Will. Nick smiled and enthusiastically sprung up to wrap his arms around his mother.

"I love you, Mom," he said while backing away. Adrianne felt the corners of her mouth twitch back into a smile as she rubbed his shoulders.

"I love you too," she replied. "Now go to bed. It's getting late." Nick nodded, that smile not leaving his face, and shuffled back into his room, softly shutting the door behind him. Adrianne watched after him, hoping she wouldn't regret this, but she would do anything for her son, even if that meant to give the group that took Otis's life another chance. She slowly walked into her room and closed the bedroom door behind her, then peeled off her tank top. She threw it in the green laundry hamper in the closet, which was beginning to overflow with clothes.

She made her way to open the top dresser drawer to pluck out one of Adam's old t-shirts, slipping into it after she stepped out of her jeans. Plopping onto the bed on her stomach, she was able to quite her racing thoughts and surrendered into a deep sleep.

* * *

Finally, Adrianne was able to wake up by herself, waking up to a noiseless house. Slowly, she got dressed and went downstairs, being greeted on the first floor with a warm cooked breakfast of eggs and green beans. Once she finished eating, she washed her own dish and looked out of the front window, seeing Maggie standing out on the porch – Adrianne walked out to join her. She wanted to find Hershel first to tell him her decision, but he seemed to be nowhere around, and instead went to tell Maggie about it.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" Adrianne asked her once she met her side. Maggie stared out at the other group, who were also eating breakfast – she didn't even glance at Adrianne. It was like her eyes were glued to the group that occupied their front yard.

"Glenn's gonna tell 'em," she finally said, slowly shaking her head back and forth, which made Adrianne slowly gaze over at Glenn, her eyebrows stitching together.

"Tell 'em what?" she asked, completely lost, peering back at Maggie.

"'Bout the barn," Maggie answered flatly. Adrianne's eyes widened as her head jerked to the group, seeing Glenn get up from a log he was seated on and slowly walk to the front of the group.

"Oh, no," Adrianne breathed. Maggie glanced at Adrianne.

"Nothin' we can do 'bout it," she responded and turned to Adrianne. "It's done," she added as she side-stepped Adrianne to enter the house, leaving Adrianne to watch the scene in front of her unfold into chaos.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading! I know these chapters are kinda boring right now, but don't worry! Soon there is going to be some action! (:**

**Thanks to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed! And I know I'm taking a long time to update, I keep getting writer's block. I'm also very busy now that the fall soccer season started, so it might be a while!**


	6. Trust

**Chapter Six: Trust**

* * *

The house was quiet. Eerie, almost. The only person inside was Hershel, who was seated at the dining room table, eating a small colorful lunch while reading a book – a book containing complex medical terms and sketches of animals that Adrianne bought him for his birthday three years ago. This was the first time she'd seen him reading it, but she assumed that he read it before; at least she hoped he had. It wasn't a cheap book, and it had been her way of thanking him for the beautiful grand piano he bought her for Christmas the year before.

"Hey," she greeted as she sat down in the pine–colored chair that faced the living room. His fork clicked against his teeth as he steadily ate.

"Happy birthday," he replied, not peeling his eyes away from the book for one second. Adrianne felt her eyebrows creep together. She sat at the edge of the chair, leaning into her crossed arms that rested on the table.

"What?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side a little. He peeked up from the book while chewing his food.

"Today's your birthday. Haven't you been keepin' track?" he asked quizzically.

"No!" she snorted. "I think there are more important things to do than birthday celebrations," she added, allowing a teasing smile to work onto her face. "So, how old am I?" she asked, propped her chin on the palm of her hand to gaze at Hershel.

"You know how old you are," he answered pointedly, glancing up at her briefly.

"I know that I know. I'm askin' if _you_ know," she challenged, her eyes blazing with amusement. Hershel stopped chewing his food.

"Twenty. . ." he began, studying her face for clues. She kept her poker face, making it more difficult for him, but as she held a blink for a few seconds to hide her growing smile, he caught on. ". . .thirty. . ." he tried, obviously having no clue how old she was.

"Thirty–three," she interrupted, showing mercy on the poor man.

"I wasn't done guessin'," he defended, making Adrianne burst into laughter.

Three sharp knocks reverberated into the dining room from the screen door. "C'mon in," Hershel called. Adrianne watched the door open and Rick emerged, then he passively walked into the dining room to greet them. Adrianne got up from her chair, leaving them some privacy since she knew he was going to bring up the barn, something she did _not _want to start an argument about. It was the only thing she was against Hershel about and she didn't want to fight with him anymore.

"No, please. Stay," Rick asked her; Adrianne halted and glanced back at them with a tight smile.

"Nah, I think you two need to talk alone," she insisted, and walked around the table, ripping the sandwich in half from Hershel's plate as she went past. She heard him _tsk _and saw him glare, but she took a bite of the sandwich and continued walking to go outside. Once she got outside, she saw someone sitting on Hershel's tractor watching the barn in the distance. Adrianne sighed and stepped off the porch, heading toward the person.

As she got closer, she recognized the bald head and muscular build and slowly shook her head as she walked up to Shane. He turned his gaze to her when he heard her footsteps.

"I don't think you need to watch that barn, comrade," she called out, slowing down her pace as she reached his side. He glanced over in her direction, snorting at her remark.

"I don't think you need to keep walkers in there, darlin'," he retorted in an exasperated tone, as if he said it a million times. Adrianne set her hands on her hips, sighing deeply in annoyance. Shane gazed at her, looking her up and down. "What the hell is your problem?" he demanded, scooting up further on the tractor, only to slide back down.

"I know you killed Otis," she began. He snorted and stood on his feet, forcing her to look up to make eye contact.

"Walkers got to 'em. I didn't kill him," he stated, glancing off to his left as he licked his lips.

"If you were gonna push that lie, the least you could do was leave at least one gun behind. Y'know, to actually make it look like Otis died a hero," she argued, inclining her head towards him and pulling an I'm-not-stupid look.

"Listen, I'm sorry that you lost him. But keep your delusions to yourself, okay?" he said, setting his hand on Adrianne's shoulder - Adrianne jerked her body away with a grimace growing on her face.

"Keep your hands off of me," she hissed as his hand fell back to his side. The grass behind her rustled, and they both glanced to check out the source of the noise. Rick was making his way over to them, almost hurriedly. His head was down, fortunately, so he didn't see the exchange of tense gestures between her and Shane.

"Adrianne, we need to talk," he insisted, his blazing blue eyes staring down at her. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Alright," she replied, glaring at Shane but staying put, "talk." Rick's eyes flickered toward Shane.

"Alone, please," he hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her some place where no ears could hear them. He halted, turned back to Adrianne. "Lori's pregnant," he stated, his tone hushed even though there was no one around.

"I know," she said.

"You know?" he exclaimed, raising his voice significantly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"'Cause I thought you knew," she defended. His hand met his forehead, and he let out a sigh. "Why the hell should I be the one to tell you stuff?" she demanded, dropping her hands to her sides.

"We need to stay. She's gonna need your help to deliver the baby," he replied, lowering his voice again, his eyes focused on the ground.

"But I thought she took pills to abort it," she responded before thinking. Her hand flew up to her mouth, realizing her mistake.

"You knew 'bout that, too?" he cried, even more frustrated than before; for a moment, he had a look on his face that was the same as her father's when he was going to hit her, which made her flinch. She knew Rick wouldn't hit her, but her rough upbringing made her react that way when someone was angry with her.

"Sorry," she began, searching her brain for something to say and holding her hands up in defense. "Listen, I know this isn't a very good time to tell you this, but I decided to let you stay," she added. Rick's face suddenly lit up, his anger fading completely from his expression.

"Thank you," he said, "you won't regret it. I promise."

"Rick," Adrianne responded, shaking her head slightly and lowering her voice, "I know I didn't seem very easy to please, but I respect you. I'll assume you return the gesture. So I have one thing to ask of you." She stopped to wait for him to assure he was listening. After he nodded, she continued, "Do _not _let Shane ruin this."

"How can he ruin it?" he inquired as his eyebrows crept together.

"Those…uh…'walkers' in the barn," she hesitated, "I think that's wrong too. I think we should put them out of their misery and put bullets in their skulls, but Hershel won't allow that, okay? So don't go plannin' shit and keep Shane _away_ from the goddamn barn."

"So if you don't want those things in the barn, then why are they in there?" Rick demanded, setting his hands on his hips after shifting his weight onto one leg.

"'Cause this isn't my house. Not my rules, not my say unless Hershel says it is," Adrianne explained briefly, pausing for a moment. "That barn is secure. It's been there for a long time and its fine—"

"It might not stay that way," Rick interrupted.

"Rick," Adrianne warned. "I'm trying to tell you that I don't like them being in the barn either. You don't need to convince me t'kill 'em. Save that for Hershel." Rick nodded in understanding as he fell silent.

"Thanks," he said after a long silence.

"Don't mention it," Adrianne replied, smiling politely. "I gotta go, talk to ya later," she added as she began walking away, seeing Rick nod before she turned around entirely.

She entered the house and softly closed the door behind her, leaning her back against it as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She didn't know what was worse: securing the group's position on the farm or the fact that she would have to put up with shit from Shane until she – or he – died. She might just end up swallowing a bullet for her sake.

"What's the matter?" a soft voice asked. Adrianne glanced over at a worried Beth, who was standing in the doorway of the master bedroom.

"Nothing," Adrianne responded, her voice loud, but airy as she exhaled the rest of her breath from her lungs and forced a quick smile.

"What's goin' on?" she questioned, a look of confusion growing on her face.

"It's my birthday," Adrianne cheered, raising her arms up and waving them around with fake excitement.

"Oh yeah! Daddy told me yesterday, but I completely forgot!" Beth exclaimed, suddenly reaching into her jeans pocket, which had a big lump in it. She pulled a black box out of her pocket and extended her arm out to Adrianne, allowing her to take it. Adrianne reached forward slowly to take the box from Beth's hand and opened it. Inside the box was a silver Celtic knot pendant with a teardrop shaped emerald gem in the middle. There were diamonds all around the green gem – they sparkled when the sun caught them.

Adrianne stared at it in awe, a frog caught in her throat now that she was finally holding the necklace she'd always wanted in her hands. She was never able to get it because it was an outrageous amount of money, and she remembered Adam was the one who showed it to her, promising to buy it for her. No matter how much she refused, he wouldn't allow her to change his mind.

"H–how did you find this?" Adrianne croaked, her awe–struck gaze turning to Beth.

"Maggie found it when she was gone on a run with Glenn a few days ago. She knew you were in love with it so she took it for you," Beth explained as Adrianne gently pulled it out of the box to clip it behind her neck, the cool silver resting against her chest.

"Thank you so much, Beth," Adrianne breathed and reached to pull the girl into a hug.

"It was actually Maggie who got it, not me," Beth stated softly.

"I don't care, you gave it to me," Adrianne replied; her voice sounded rough, as though she'd been crying.

"So what're we gonna do for your thirty-third birthday?" Beth inquired after she pulled away.

"Uh, try to convince Rick's group to listen to us," Adrianne answered as she pulled a face after quickly recovering from her brief flood of emotions.

"What d'ya mean?" Beth questioned, looking up at Adrianne in confusion.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Adrianne answered as she pursed her lips. Beth's confused look grew as Adrianne thanked her again for the necklace and began to exit the room; she didn't want to tell Beth about their problem – she was going to leave that with Hershel. "Where is Maggie by the way?" Adrianne questioned, looking into the hallway that led to the kitchen; she thought she heard shuffling out there, but she didn't really know where the sound was coming from.

"I think she's in the kitchen. Last I saw 'er, that's where she was headed," Beth answered; Adrianne gave her a quick smile and began making her way to the kitchen. Once she saw Maggie doing her job of chopping vegetables for dinner that night, she strolled through the dining room towards her.

"Hey," Adrianne greeted as she made her way to the island Maggie was working on.

"Come in here to bitch at me?" she asked, flickering her eyes up at Adrianne for a brief moment.

"No?" Adrianne replied, her eyebrows stitching together in confusion. "I was gonna tell you—"

"Adrianne, let me have a minute with my daughter," Hershel's voice suddenly sounded from behind Adrianne, causing her to jump and leap to the side, staring behind her with wide eyes.

"You scared the hell outta me," Adrianne hissed, her eyes narrowing as she shot a glare at her uncle. Hershel just gave her a blank-but-expectant stare, telling her that she needed to leave the room. "Sorry," Adrianne mumbled, holding her hands up in defense before she shuffled out, going back to the living room to sink down onto the couch. She pulled off her boots and threw them in front of the door. Suddenly, the front door burst open, followed by Jimmy running through the house calling for Hershel. Adrianne jumped up from the chair and slowly stepped closer, listening to what was going on.

"It happened again," Jimmy said once he had Hershel's attention, glancing back at Adrianne to see if she was also listening. She hurried over to the door to slip into her boots and waited for Hershel and Jimmy to make their way into the living room.

"D'ya need my help this time?" Adrianne asked.

"No, you stay here. I'll get Rick," Hershel answered hurriedly.

"Wha— Rick?" Adrianne protested, narrowing her eyes as Hershel walked through the living room. "Why the hell are—"

"Adrianne!" Hershel snapped in a fatherly tone as he stopped in his tracks to give her a stern look. Adrianne backed off, holding her hands up in defense and muttering her apology. She stepped out onto the porch and watched after them as they sped to the Cherokee where Rick and Andrea were standing. Hershel said something and Andrea began walking away – towards the barn. Adrianne shook her head and snorted as she moved to the rocking chair to sit down, crossing her leg over the other.

She was a little upset to know Hershel didn't take her with; he knew how much she hated sitting around and he was making her do just that.

A few minutes passed and she noticed Lori sitting on a log out in the middle of the yard, away from the camp. Adrianne pushed herself up from the rocking chair and stepped down the stairs to begin making her way over to the woman.

"How ya feelin'?" Adrianne asked once she was close, catching Lori's attention.

"Like shit," Lori answered flatly, avoiding eye contact with Adrianne.

"Same here," Adrianne replied while kneeling down and sitting on the grass next to the log. She stretched out her legs and looked up at Rick's wife, waiting for her to say something. After a long awkward silence, Adrianne licked her lips and said passively, "I'm sorry I was a bitch when we were talkin' 'bout the surgery for Carl."

"'Bitch' is puttin' it lightly," Lori responded after a sigh.

"Okay," Adrianne snapped, "don't make me take it back." The silence fell again and eventually bored Adrianne so she began to get to her feet.

"Thanks for lettin' us stay," Lori began, her voice rushed, "but we would feel much safer if those walkers weren't in your barn." Adrianne gazed down at Lori and her expression changed to frustration when Lori mentioned the barn.

"It waddn't my doin'," Adrianne replied in exasperation. "I don't run this place, my uncle does. I'm not the complaint department. You should just be happy we're lettin' you stay here." A shadow brought Adrianne's attention away from Lori to see Shane approaching the two of them in a hurry. Adrianne crossed her arms over her chest and watched as Shane got closer.

"Adrianne, can you leave us alone?" Shane asked, glancing between the two women.

"No problem," Adrianne responded flatly and looked back to Lori. "If you need anything—"

"Thanks, Adrianne. But I don't," Lori said flatly, causing Adrianne to shake her head in growing anger; she was just trying to help.

She turned around and began making her way to the horse stable to take Bullet out for a run. As she walked, she glanced to the barn and saw Andrea sitting by it, looking like she was sharpening a knife. Adrianne changed paths to find out what she was doing there; it was beginning to irritate Adrianne that they decided to 'watch' the barn when it was safe.

"Hey Adrianne," Andrea greeted as she glanced up from the knife in her hands. Adrianne plopped down next to Andrea with a loud sigh and leaned against the barn.

"Whatcha doin'?" Adrianne asked, trying to sound as little demanding as possible.

"Just sharpening my knife," Andrea answered back politely, glancing at Adrianne to smile.

"No, I mean what're ya doin' _here_," Adrianne clarified, gesturing along with her words.

"I'm just keepin' watch," Andrea replied, who glanced at Adrianne with a reassuring look on her face, "makin' sure the walkers don't bust out."

"They won't," Adrianne said in an exasperated tone as she tightened her ponytail, then her hand slapped her thigh because of her sudden frustration.

"Does that bother you?" Andrea inquired, sounding genuine.

"Yes," Adrianne stated simply, then looked over at Andrea. "I know this is wrong…keeping 'walkers' in there, but Hershel believes they're still alive. Even his own daughter getting attacked by one of 'em didn't convince him. You don't need to watch the barn, either. No matter what that douchebag tells you," Adrianne continued.

"Who's the douchebag?" Andrea asked, her eyebrows furrowing together.

"Shane," Adrianne answered with a sigh, leaning her head back on the wooden wall of the barn, which produced a loud thud.

"You two really have some shit between ya don't you?" Andrea laughed. Adrianne glanced at her.

"What?" she demanded.

"He tells us you're trouble," Andrea explained, which earned a glare from Adrianne. "Hey, I don't believe it. I think you're quite a nice lady," she added with a softened tone, causing Adrianne to scoff.

"I already got Rick bending over for me, you don't need to, too," Adrianne laughed as she wiped the sweat off her brow. A thud on the other side of the wall from directly behind Adrianne caused her to bolt up to her feet. Greying fingers slipped between the planks; when Adrianne looked closer she saw eyes and heard the moans of the walkers inside.

"If I saw that right," Andrea said in a suggestive tone, also getting to her feet, "I'd say you don't believe what you said about the barn." Adrianne looked at Andrea with a pointed look on her face.

"The barn's secure. They just scared the shit outta me, that's all," Adrianne replied, glancing back at the barn, then set her hands on her hips.

"I'm not buyin' it," Andrea said, her tone flat.

"Ya don't have'ta," Adrianne responded and started to go to the stables, where she had meant to go in the first place. "Catch ya later, Andrea," she called, turning slightly to glance at Andrea as she walked away.

As soon as she turned her attention to the front of her, she caught a glimpse of Bullet in the stall, his head sticking out above the door, craning his neck in Adrianne's direction.

"Hey, baby," Adrianne crooned as she reached him and patted his cheek, planting a kiss in between his eyes. "D'ya wanna go out for a run?" she asked; Bullet stomped his hoof in response and whinnied quietly. Adrianne laughed at him as she opened the door slightly to slip through. Bullet turned around eagerly, following Adrianne to the saddle post – he sat still enough to allow Adrianne to strap on the saddle and slip the reins onto his head. With ease, she pulled herself onto the horse and guided Bullet to step closer to the door where she reached forward to push it all the way open. Adrianne pursed her lips to croon Bullet and he started walking out of the stall; Adrianne squeezed her legs to get him to break into a gallop as they left the stables.

Just because she hated sitting around so much, she decided to go into town to look for anything worth her interest. Like a new book, perhaps. The book she was reading was getting boring; she'd read it at least twenty times and it would be nice to have something new for once. Or maybe she would grab some candy; she refused to admit that she was getting thecandy purelyfor herself – she would always say she was going to get it for Will and Nick, but in the end, Adrianne _always _ended up being the one to eat it all.

Once Bullet got to the road, she clicked her tongue and he broke into a run. Adrianne's nose began to burn when a sudden stench filled the air as she got closer to town. She remembered when she used to take Bullet out for a run before the apocalypse, the air smelled like pine, not rotting corpses.

Adrianne guided Bullet through the town towards the general store once he slowed to a canter. She slid off of him and stepped up to the store, knowing Bullet wouldn't take off without her.

She took out the gun from the back of her jeans and raised it as she entered the store. The store was a mess; there were products scattered all over the floor that weren't taken yet. Adrianne kneeled down to examine the stuff closest to the door, which turned out to be famine hygiene and family planning products. She sighed and got back to her feet, looking around the rest of the store, searching for any type of food or something to entertain her. She left the store in frustration with just a bottle of Vicodin, giving up on going on runs since she knew she wouldn't find anything good that Vicodin was good, it's just not something she was hoping for. Hershel never liked Adrianne using Vicodin – even though she only used it for severe pain – so it was never in the house much. It was a temporary cure for her tendonitis.

She headed back to Bullet and heaved herself on the saddle; she guided him to turn around to head back to the boring life on the farm.

* * *

Bullet slowed to a walk as they headed back down the driveway to the farm after their run into town. It felt like she'd been gone for hours.

Out of the corner of her eye, hurried movements caught her attention. Shane was handing out guns to everyone in the group and began speeding over to the barn, followed by everyone else; they were all checking their guns, making sure they were loaded. She knew immediately that Shane was planning on clearing the barn.

"He-yah!" Adrianne yelled to Bullet; her heart sank and adrenaline pumped through her veins as Bullet began to sprint towards the barn. Shane was shouting at the group, riling them up for a shootout. Rick and Hershel each had a walker attached to restraint poles trying to put them in the barn. Shane began shooting the walker in Hershel's grasp in the stomach, but the walker didn't die, so he shot it in the head; the walker fell deadto the ground, along with Hershel falling to his knees as he watched.

"Shane!" Adrianne yelled once she got close enough. He didn't listen. Bullet was running so fast that he wasn't able to slow down once he reached the group; he reared onto his back legs, whinnying loudly, causing everyone to scatter out of the way.

Adrianne jumped off of Bullet and ran to Shane, who was still yelling at the group and pulling the plank off the door. Rick was screaming at him to stop, but he just wouldn't do it.

"Shane! Stop!" Adrianne screamed as she ran up to Shane.

"You said you don't like this either, huh?" Shane said to Adrianne, his voice sounding like he was giving a pep talk. "Maybe you should do somethin' 'bout it!" he added, shoving a gun at her.

"No! Don't do this!" Adrianne exclaimed, backing away from him.

"See? She's a lyin' sack 'a shit! She believes the same thing her old man does!" Shane shouted at the group.

Without thinking, Adrianne's fist shot out and struck Shane's jaw, causing him to stumble back. He shot her a menacing glare as she clutched and shook her hand from the pain that throbbed in her wrist. Shane suddenly sped forward and shoved her hard; she fell on the ground, pain shooting up her spine from her tailbone. She bolted up to her feet as a result of her adrenaline rush. Her blood boiled in anger as she leaped out at Shane, grabbing for his throat, but hands on her shoulders pulled her back as soon as she began squeezing.

"You best stop!" Daryl's voice yelled from behind her. She couldn't tell if he was talking to her or to Shane; not that it mattered to her.

What happened next seemed to all happen in slow motion. Shane shot at the barn doors, then the walkers inside pushed their way out. Daryl was dragging Adrianne out of the way before the walkers could get too close, and he let her go once they were a safe distance away. The group then lined up in front of Adrianne, taking shots at Adrianne's family. Annette, her step aunt, stepped out after John, the man who had helped Adrianne rebuild her barn after a storm – as soon as Annette stepped out into the sun, she dropped to the ground, her head splattering rotten blood all over the barn door from the bullet that pierced her skull.

Adrianne watched all her family members fall to the ground, lifeless. Finally, the last walker emerged from the barn and didn't get two steps out before he stumbled onto the ground, piling on top of the others. Adrianne stared at the barn, unable to tear her eyes away until it was all over – she pinched the bridge of her nose hard and slowly got to her feet, time moving normally now. They all stood there in silence; no one even looked at each other.

Suddenly, in the crack of the barn door, another walker – a young girl – stepped out, staring out at everyone before her. Just as the girl stepped out, running footsteps came from behind them and Adrianne looked back to see Carol running to the barn.

"Sofia!" she sobbed as Daryl caught her around the waist to hold her back. Adrianne hung her head and swallowed hard as sorrow enveloped everyone who stood there, staring at the woman who just found out she lost her daughter – the girl they had been searching for since they got to the farm.

Rick stepped up and slowly – almost hesitantly – raised his gun. It took him a few moments before he squeezed the trigger. His face had a look of sorrow and disappointment on his face as he slowly lowered the gun.

Beth stumbled out, crying when she saw her mother on the ground, dead for the second time. She sobbed as she made her way up to the walkers, Rick then trying to hold her back but she pulled away, falling to her knees and pushing a body off her mom. Just as she turned her mom over, Annette bolted up, tangling her fingers in Beth's hair.

"Beth!" Adrianne screamed as she sprinted to the girl, who was screaming. Adrianne and Shane both grabbed Beth underneath her shoulders and pulled back, not able to shake Annette off. With the help of the rest of the group, they managed to get Beth away just before T-Dog kicked Annette. They started beating her, trying to kill her, until Andrea got a scythe and swung it into Annette's head, killing her for sure. Adrianne let go of Beth, then jabbed a finger at Shane.

"You keep your fuckin' hands offa her, ya hear?" Adrianne snapped. Beth ran into her dad's arms, still crying as they all stared blankly at the lifeless bodies that littered the ground before the barn. Dale ran up from out of nowhere, gaping at what he saw. Adrianne slowly walked over to Beth, putting her arm around her in a one-armed hug. Once Adrianne looked back at the farm, she saw her sons running up to the group.

"Mom!" Nick cried as he ran into her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "What happened?" he asked.

"Nothin', Nick, I'll explain later," she said as she glanced at Will, who was staring at the walker's with wide eyes. "Will, let's get back inside," she told him and his eyes drifted over to her as they gathered up to walk back into the house. They were close to getting to the house when Shane began his ranting.

"We've been combin' these woods this whole damn time, and she was in there all along?" he demanded from behind them. "You knew."

"Leave us alone!" Maggie hissed at him. Adrianne heard Rick say something to stop Shane, but Shane just told him to keep his hands off of him.

"You knew and you kept it from us," Shane accused.

"We didn't know!" Adrianne snapped, each of her hands on Nick and Beth's backs.

"I think _y_'_all _knew," Shane pressed.

"We _didn't _know," Maggie spat at him, stepping on the toes of what Adrianne just said.

"Then why was she there?" Shane demanded.

"Otis put those people in there. Maybe he found her and put her in there 'fore he was killed," Hershel replied as the rest of them made their way up the steps of the porch. Adrianne ushered her sons into the house, telling them to take care of Beth, then turned around, stepping back down the steps to stand next to Hershel.

"You expect me t'believe that bullshit?" Shane snapped at him, causing Rick to put his hand on his chest to get him to back off. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"

"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel snapped, waving his arms as he spoke.

"Everyone just calm down! Please!" Rick demanded, stepping in between Shane and Hershel.

"Get him off our land!" Adrianne yelled, jabbing her finger at Shane in anger. Shane shot her a menacing look, then looked back at Hershel.

"Lemme tell you something—" he began as he approached them both.

"Hey!" Maggie exclaimed and bolted in between them; she slapped him, producing a loud snapping noise. "Don't you touch them!" she spat, and Shane backed away, staring at her. "Haven't you done enough?" she added as she turned around to make her way back up the steps, followed by Adrianne and Hershel. Hershel turned around to address the two men one last time, allowing Adrianne to go ahead of him.

"I mean it," he warned, "get off my land." They went inside the house and Adrianne sat down on the couch, burying her face in her hands. She heard Shane and Rick arguing in front of their house, but she didn't care to listen. _He blew it for everyone,_ Adrianne thought; she was more bummed out about it than she thought she would be.

She pushed herself up from the couch and turned around, seeing Maggie standing in the dining room with a blank look on her face. Adrianne made her way over to her and pulled her cousin into a hug, staring at the wall in front of her.

"Sorry, uh, a-am I interrupting?" a voice said from Adrianne's right. She pulled away and saw Glenn standing awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"No, by all means," Adrianne said in a cold voice. "You already fuckin' interrupted everything—"

"Adrianne," Maggie interrupted, putting a hand on Adrianne's arm. Adrianne began walking away, sneering at Glenn as she walked right up to him; he moved out of the way for her so she could continue her path to the spare room where there would be peace and quiet.

* * *

Adrianne stood at the 'memorial service' next to Hershel and Maggie, her arms crossed over her chest, staring down at the graves. They began filing away once they finished the service; Rick's group separated from Hershel's, each going their own way.

Adrianne went inside to help Beth and Maggie in the kitchen until Glenn came in to pester Maggie. Adrianne threw a kitchen towel over her shoulder as she dried dishes and put them away. Loud clattering, followed by a hard thud brought Adrianne's attention to Beth, who was lying on the floor in front of the sink. Maggie rushed over to them.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"I dunno, she just fell," Adrianne explained. "Here, help me take her to the spare room." Maggie obeyed, grabbing Beth's legs as Adrianne held Beth underneath her shoulders. They set her down gently on the bed once they were in the room – Adrianne and Maggie sat on the bed on each side of Beth, examining her.

"Glenn, go find Hershel," Adrianne instructed once he got into the doorway, and he listened.

"Hey, sweat pea, are you okay?" Maggie asked Beth, stroking her hair. Glenn came back after a few minutes, saying he couldn't find Hershel, and suddenly, Lori popped in the doorway.

"What happened?" she demanded them.

"She's in shock," Adrianne replied, watching Maggie talk to her sister in a soothing tone.

"Where's Hershel?" she asked.

"We can't find 'em," Glenn answered, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Adrianne stayed next to Beth as everyone else filed out of the room in a hurry. She looked down at Beth after she zoned out for a few minutes and put her hand on her forehead, which was hot with a fever. Adrianne sighed as she pushed herself up from the bed and exited the room; she went into the kitchen to get a clean glass and brought it to the sink to fill it up with water. When she turned around, Rick, Maggie and Glenn were exiting the house, Rick heading for the Cherokee while Glenn and Maggie hung back for a few moments. Glenn finally walked away from Maggie and got into the passenger side of the car.

Adrianne didn't realize she was watching them until Andrea obstructed her view.

"Adrianne? Are you alright?" she asked her with a curious look on her face.

"Y-yeah," Adrianne croaked as she looked down at the glass of water and strolled past Andrea, back to Beth. She slipped her hand behind Beth's head and picked it up slightly to put the glass to her lips. Footsteps brought Adrianne's attention up to Maggie, who was making her way past Andrea to sit on the bed next to Beth. Adrianne put the glass down on the nightstand after letting Beth get a drink and started for the doorway.

"Maggie, make sure she gets a drink every few minutes," Adrianne instructed her as she walked. "And get some towels to soak in cool water to put on her forehead." Maggie nodded in understanding and Adrianne left the room, trusting her and exited the house, headed for her secret hiding spot far from the house.

Once a lone tree next to a stone pillar came to view, she began walking faster; as she got closer, she saw someone leaning against the pillar, sharpening something. It was Daryl, sharpening a stick.

"Hey, man," Adrianne called, "you stole my spot." He glanced up momentarily, then went back to sharpening the stick with his hunting knife.

"Looks like it's mine now," he said flatly, ignoring her when she sat down next to him.

"Get up," she told him, earning her a slightly disgusted look from Daryl. "You're sittin' on my stuff," she explained and he got up for her. She reached over to the pile of bricks he was sitting on and pulled one in the back out, revealing a secret compartment. She pulled out a white pack and popped the lid open. "Want one?" she asked Daryl after she put a cigarette in between her lips, holding the pack out to him. He obliged, grabbing the pack and sticking one cigarette behind his ear and another in his mouth. He handed the pack back to her and she put it back in its hiding place, then pulled out a lighter. Daryl sat back down next to her as she lit her cigarette and leaned over to hold the lit lighter out to him. She puffed in the smoke, then held the cigarette in her fingers.

"It's like a breath of fresh air," she said after a sigh, leaning her head back on the pillar.

"Yup," was all Daryl said in return as he started sharpening his stick again.

"No thank you?" she demanded, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Thanks," he said, not sounding very genuine. She scoffed then brought the cigarette back to her lips to breathe in the smoke. If Hershel saw her right now, he would probably have a heart attack. He'd been pissing and moaning about her smoking for a long time until she decided to tell him she quit – she really didn't. She began hiding the cigarettes throughout the house but he would always find them, which is why she turned to a secret place outside.

"Lemme ask ya somethin'," Adrianne said to him, shifting slightly. "why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Daryl asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Take part in the killin' frenzy that was _bound _to get ya kicked off the farm," Adrianne said pointedly. She was a little bummed that Daryl took part in it; for some reason she had a feeling he wouldn't, but he proved her wrong.

Daryl looked over at her for a second, but didn't even begin to explain.

"Well," Adrianne grunted when she jumped up, propping the cigarette back in her lips."See ya later," she added as she turned on her heel to head back to the house. When she looked up from the ground after a few moments, she saw Lori making her way towards her in a hurried manner. She didn't even look at Adrianne as she walked past; Adrianne assumed she was going to talk to Daryl.

Since she wasn't done smoking her cigarette, she took a detour to her left and sat down in front of the tree that was an equal distance from the house as her hiding place. She saw the group working in their camp; Andrea was building a fire, Carol was doing laundry and Shane looked like he was eating something. _Scumbag, _Adrianne thought once her eyes fell on Shane.

"Hey, Adrianne," someone called, making Adrianne jump. She looked over at Lori, who was making hurrying over to her. "I was wonderin' if you can give me directions into town," she added, stopping in front of Adrianne.

"Why?" Adrianne demanded, taking the cigarette from her lips to her fingers, "you lookin' for somethin' else to fuck up?"

"No, I just—" Lori stammered, an offended look pulling at her features.

"Save it," Adrianne interrupted, getting to her feet and bringing the cigarette back to her lips. "I dunno what you're up to, not that I give a_ shit_, but let me give you a…friendly warning," she continued as she stepped towards Lori, "do as you're told and stay put." After taking a puff, Adrianne grabbed the cigarette in between her fingers and blew cigarette smoke in Lori's face; Lori flinched, then started coughing. Adrianne strolled past her, taking one last puff of the cigarette before she threw it to the side and stomped on it. _Boring life,_ Adrianne thought to herself. _It's gonna be a long one._

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Sorry it's taking me so long, this is kind of a slow part and it's easy to get the dreaded writer's block. Thanks to my beta reader for helping me get out of it. (:**

**Thank you to those who reviewed/favorited/followed! I hope you're liking the route this story is taking, let me know!**


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